A/HRC/30/65 II. Right to health A. Access to treatment 6. The right to health is provided for in article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights. Under articles 2 (2) and 3 of the Covenant, States are required to implement the right to health on a non-discriminatory basis, which includes extending that right to drug users. 7. The Special Rapporteur on the right to health has underlined the distinction between drug use and drug dependence. Drug dependence is a chronic, relapsing disorder that should be medically treated using a biopsychosocial approach. Drug use is neither a medical condition nor does it necessarily lead to drug dependence. People who use drugs and people who are dependent on drugs possess the same right to health as everyone else, and those rights cannot be curtailed if the use of drugs constitutes a criminal offence (see A/65/255, para. 7). The Special Rapporteur has noted that the same standards of ethical treatment apply to the treatment of drug dependence as to other health-related conditions, including with regard to the right of a patient to make decisions about treatment and to refuse treatment. 8. The Special Rapporteur has emphasized that health-care personnel have an obligation to provide treatment on a non-discriminatory basis and not to stigmatize or violate a patient’s human rights. Nevertheless, people who use drugs may be subject to discrimination in health-care settings. People who inject drugs, for example, may have poorer access to health care in some countries, including for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. This may be due to unjustified restrictions by health-care providers on the provision of heath care for people who inject drugs. 3 The Special Rapporteur noted that care providers may not have adequate information or training concerning harm reduction measures (see A/65/255, para. 46). The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended training health workers on issues of stigma and non-discrimination, to achieve better health outcomes.4 9. Individuals have sometimes been denied access to medical treatment on the grounds of their prior or current drug use, where evidence does not justify denial of treatment. Such denial has occurred on the rationale that a person’s drug use would make him or her unable to adhere to treatment. The Special Rapporteur notes that adherence to medical treatment is not necessarily lower among persons who use drugs, and should be assessed on an individual basis (see A/65/255, paras 23-24). 10. Outreach programmes are useful in providing information and referral health services to drug users in the community. Information and education programmes can minimize harm to individuals who use drugs and encourage drug dependent persons to seek treatment.5 3 4 5 World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Technical Guide for Countries to Set Targets for Universal Access to HIV Prevention, Treatment and Care for Injecting Drug Users (2012), p. 26. WHO, Consolidated Guidelines on HIV Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment and Care for Key Populations (July 2014), pp. 96-99. Submission of the Special Rapporteur to the Committee against Torture (19 October 2012), p. 6. Available from www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Health/drugPolicyLaw.pdf. 3