A/HRC/7/11 page 16 13. Coordination 57. A health system, as well as the right to the highest attainable standard of health, depends on effective coordination across a range of public and private actors (including non-governmental organizations) at the national and international levels. The scope of the coordination will depend on how the health system is defined. But however it is defined, coordination is crucial. For example, a health system and the right to the highest attainable standard of health demand effective coordination between various sectors and departments, such as health, environment, water, sanitation, education, food, shelter, finance and transport. They also demand coordination within sectors and departments, such as the Ministry of Health. The need for coordination extends to policymaking and the actual delivery of services. 58. In the Special Rapporteur’s experience, health-related coordination in many States is very patchy and weak. Alone, the Cabinet is an insufficient coordination mechanism for health-related issues. Other coordination mechanisms are essential. 14. Health as a global public good: the importance of international cooperation27 59. Public goods are goods that benefit society as a whole. The concept of “national public goods”, such as the maintenance of law and order, is well established. In an increasingly interdependent world, much more attention is being paid to “global public goods”. They address issues in which the international community has a common interest. In the health context, global public goods include the control of infectious diseases, the dissemination of health research, and international regulatory initiatives, such as the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Although it remains very imprecise, the concept of “global public goods” confirms that a health system has both national and international dimensions. 60. The international dimension of a health system is also reflected in States’ human rights responsibilities of international assistance and cooperation. These responsibilities can be traced through the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and several more recent international human rights declarations and binding treaties.28 They are also reflected in the outcome documents of several world conferences, such as the Millennium Declaration, as well as numerous other initiatives, including the Paris Agenda on Aid Effectiveness (2005). 61. As a minimum, all States have a responsibility to cooperate on transboundary health issues and to “do no harm” to their neighbours. High-income States have an additional responsibility to provide appropriate international assistance and cooperation in health for low-income countries. 27 This section draws extensively on Health is Global: Proposals for a UK Government-Wide Strategy, Department of Health, 2007, especially at p. 46. 28 See S. Skogly, Beyond National Borders: States’ Human Rights Obligations in International Cooperation, Antwerp/Oxford, Intersentia, 2006.