A/HRC/37/74 asked about harm reduction policies, legal protection and assistance in Africa, and access to mental health services for persons living with communicable diseases. 46. Mr. Cole argued that businesses would understand that what was good for their community was good for them. Ms. Christie called for efforts to build social justice and include legal ethics in legal curricula, and for affirmative action to be taken in law schools for groups subject to discrimination. It was important to deal with the legal, social, physical and mental needs of populations. Mr. Subtselny referred to a health programme supported by UNESCO on reproductive education for parents, and to the role of peers and role models in education. Ms. Doltu said that a system of part-time medical work in prisons could contribute to better health services in prisons. She called for more data to be collected on the social impact of epidemics affecting women. All panellists called for more steps to be taken to raise awareness of the positive impact of harm reduction policies in reducing infections. They also called for the decriminalization of drugs and for efforts to put an end to the stigmatization of drug users and other vulnerable populations. H. International cooperation for global responses and national implementation 47. The Permanent Representative of Switzerland, Valentin Zellweger, described his country’s contributions to the fight against HIV and other communicable diseases at the international and bilateral levels in a manner that broke silos. The UNAIDS governance structure, which included civil society as members of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, made a big difference as speaking directly with affected communities allowed for an understanding of the implications of the policies and programmes on the ground. Evidence demonstrated that a human rights and gender-based approach was more effective. The six elements Switzerland considered crucial in the response to HIV were: establishing a balance between prevention and treatment; placing gender equality and human rights at the centre of the response; taking an evidence-based approach; aiming to contribute to health systems and the achievement of universal health coverage; addressing the underlying determinants of HIV; and taking a multi-stakeholder approach. 48. The Executive Director of Partners in Population and Development, Joe Thomas, said that involving vulnerable populations in developing responses and South-South cooperation were ways of translating the key principles of the 2030 Agenda into action to end HIV and other communicable diseases. There was a need to incorporate constantly evolving data and evidence about differential vulnerability experiences. He echoed the United Nations Secretary-General’s call for more support to South-South efforts towards achieving internationally agreed development goals. The full realization of Sustainable Development Goals 3, 5, 16 and 17 was intertwined with protecting and promoting human rights. He described Partners in Population and Development’s governance and mandate on South-South cooperation, including on sexual and reproductive health, and its potential for improving HIV response in low- and middle-income countries. 49. The Executive Director of the South Centre, Vicente Paolo Yu, recalled that international human rights instruments pointed to States’ duty to cooperate with each other. The realization of the right to health and achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3 required international cooperation on addressing barriers to access to medicines, research and development of medicines, provision of health services and emergency humanitarian assistance during pandemics. It was important to maintain policy space, flexibilities and coherence in issues related to intellectual property to enable developing countries to cope with new epidemics. Coping capacity was further affected by international economic, social and environmental challenges. In order to further international cooperation, he proposed that research and development for new drug discovery should be publicly funded and that any new drugs discovered under that model should be patent-free or have public interest patents. In addition, North-South cooperation remained essential, particularly in the development of infrastructure for the delivery of public health services. Moreover, strengthened South-South cooperation would foster the exchange of expert skills, training, technology and capacity in delivering public health services. 13