A/HRC/37/74 11. The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Roberto Azevêdo, described the contributions of WTO to the realization of the right to health. Innovation was vital for new treatments as diseases evolved, but to benefit those in need of treatment, effective and equitable access to medicines was necessary. The Agreement on TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement) provided exceptions and limitations and was to be implemented in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare. The 2001 Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health had marked a major milestone in increasing access to medicines. It had led to the amendment of WTO trade rules to allow for generic medicines to be produced under compulsory licences for export to countries with limited or no pharmaceutical production capacity for treating affected populations. WTO had also taken measures to reduce the costs of and delays in shipping medicines internationally and to cut tariffs on medicines. There could be no higher calling for the international community than to work together to fulfil the right to health. WTO, working jointly with others, would continue to ensure that trade supported the fulfilment of that right. 12. Following the presentations, representatives of Bahrain, Cabo Verde (on behalf of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries), Egypt, Ghana, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mexico, Panama, the Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, the Association of World Citizens, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Global Forum on MSM & HIV, the Stop AIDS Alliance and the World Social Forum took the floor. They underlined the need to address challenges faced by specific groups, such as children, adolescents, women, migrants, refugees, persons deprived of liberty, sex workers and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. Those challenges included discrimination, criminalization of vulnerable groups, the shrinking of civic space, barriers to access to medicines and unaffordable prices, and a lack of funding for health and other policies addressing the social determinants of health. Overcoming those challenges was a collective endeavour that should build on the 2030 Agenda commitments. Proposals for addressing those challenges included the adoption of universal health-care systems, the collection of disaggregated data in a manner respectful of key populations, the inclusion and participation of civil society and youth in policymaking and implementation, increasing investments in community-led programmes and decriminalizing drug use and behaviours common among affected populations. Some speakers encouraged countries to include HIVrelated human rights issues in their universal periodic review reports and recommendations, their reports to human rights treaty bodies and their voluntary national reviews on the Sustainable Development Goals. B. Setting the scene: implementing health related Sustainable Development Goals through a human rights perspective 13. The Chair of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Virginia Bras Gomes, said that while the policies, targets and indicators that had been adopted for the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals would, in principle, lead to the realization of rights, that realization did not depend only on policies. It was the human rights framework that could strengthen the fulfilment of the Goals. If States complied with their non-discrimination and equality obligations, the 2030 Agenda commitment to leave no one behind would be achieved. Fulfilment of the right to access to information and education campaigns could prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections. The right to health required the availability of an adequate number of functioning health-care facilities, services and goods and the promotion of social determinants of good health, such as environmental safety, economic development and gender equity. The targets and indicators in Sustainable Development Goals 3, on ensuring healthy lives, and 5, on gender equality, could contribute to realizing the right to health of people affected by AIDS and other diseases. 14. A Portuguese Parliamentarian, Ricardo Baptista Leite, recalled that the decriminalization of drug use in Portugal in 2000 had contributed not only to decreasing crime, but also to the decrease in drug consumption and the prevalence of infectious diseases, especially HIV and viral hepatitis. A parliamentary resolution developed by an 5