A/HRC/11/12 page 5 medicines. The Special Rapporteur notes however, that use of TRIPS flexibilities has been variable and that there are growing instances of developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs) adopting TRIPS-plus standards that may have an adverse affect on the right to health. He therefore highlights the need to revisit trade-related agreements in light of their impact on the right to health and in particular on access to medicines. 6. After taking up his duties in August 2008, the Special Rapporteur had fruitful discussions with a number of State representatives, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) officials and several civil society organizations. The Special Rapporteur also had the opportunity to exchange views with members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. He hopes to continue such exchanges with other United Nations treaty bodies in the future. 7. Since August 2008, the Special Rapporteur has participated in numerous consultations and conferences on the right to health. These include the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, the symposium co-organized by the International Federation of Health and Human Rights and the Human Rights Centre of Essex University and hosted by the British Medical Association in London, the International Strategy Meeting on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, organized by ESCR-NET, in Nairobi, consultations on the draft principles on extreme poverty and human rights in Geneva, a consultation on the right to health in Brazil organized by Conectas, and the fourteenth World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Mumbai. I. THE RIGHT TO THE HIGHEST ATTAINABLE STANDARD OF HEALTH 8. The right to health, enshrined in numerous international and regional human rights treaties and in many national constitutions,3 is an inclusive right, extending not only to timely and appropriate health care, but also to the underlying determinants of health, such as access to clean water and sanitation, adequate housing and nutrition as well as social determinants such as gender, racial and ethnic discrimination and disparities. 9. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that, if integrated into national and international health policymaking, the right to health can help establish laws, policies and practices that are sustainable, equitable, meaningful and responsive to the needs of those living in poverty. 10. In recent years, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, WHO and many others have developed an analysis of the right to health to make it easier to understand 3 The right to health was first addressed in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is established under article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and is also well recognized in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.