A/HRC/31/45 I. Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 28/28, decided to convene a panel discussion at its thirtieth session on the impact of the world drug problem on the enjoyment of human rights, informed by the findings contained in the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the study on the impact of the world drug problem on the enjoyment of human rights (A/HRC/30/65), and to have a constructive and inclusive dialogue on the issue with relevant stakeholders, including specialized United Nations agencies and civil society, and with the participation of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. The Council held the panel discussion on 28 September 2015, at its thirtieth session. 2. In its resolution 28/28, the Human Rights Council requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to prepare a report on the panel discussion in the form of a summary. The present report was prepared pursuant to that request. 3. The Deputy High Commissioner opened the panel discussion, which was moderated by the former President of Switzerland, Ruth Dreifuss. The panellists were Javier Andres Florez, Director of Drug Policy at the Ministry of Justice of Colombia; Ann Fordham, Executive Director of the International Drug Policy Consortium; Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, Deputy Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Professor at the Graduate Institute in Geneva and Commissioner on the West Africa Commission on Drugs; Shekhar Saxena, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse of the World Health Organization; and Aldo Lale-Demoz, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). In addition, Arthayudh Srisamoot, Ambassador of Thailand to the United Nations Office at Vienna and Chair of the fiftyeighth session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, participated in the panel discussion. II. Opening statement 4. In her opening statement, the Deputy High Commissioner referred to the report of the High Commissioner on the study of the impact of the world drug problem on human rights, which included five main areas: the right to health; rights relating to criminal justice; the prohibition of discrimination, in particular against ethnic minorities and women; the rights of the child; and the rights of indigenous peoples. 5. Concerning the right to health, the Deputy High Commissioner noted that, in its resolution 12/27, the Human Rights Council had previously recognized the need for harmreduction programmes and that such measures, including syringe exchange programmes and opioid substitution therapy, were available in slightly less than half of all countries worldwide. Harm-reduction measures help to reduce substantially HIV infections and the transmission of other blood-borne viruses, and she encouraged States to embrace harmreduction approaches. She added that this was particularly the case in prisons, where access to harm reduction was far more restricted and urgently needed. She noted that access to essential medicines under international control was far too limited, particularly in developing countries. It was often restricted for fear that they would be diverted from legitimate medical use to illicit purposes. 6. The Deputy High Commissioner recalled that the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health had already called for decriminalization of the possession and use of drugs in his 2010 report (A/65/255), and that the World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations 2