A/HRC/29/33 health and a health system is often quite weak (see A/63/263). Judicial accountability has been highlighted by the work of the mandate (see A/69/299) but other forms of accountability, such as health impact assessments, have also been addressed, including during country visits (Romania, Sweden and Uganda). 30. Other thematic reports have explored the enjoyment of the right to health and the underlying determinants, including water and sanitation, occupational health, the right to health in conflict, unhealthy foods, and the right to health of migrants, older persons and persons with psychosocial disabilities (including the key issue of informed consent). 31. The Special Rapporteur concurs with his predecessors that a comprehensive right-tohealth approach is necessary, which includes decriminalization of sexual orientation and gender identities, certain behaviours and health status, as well as the establishment of conducive legal and administrative frameworks with emphasis on human rights education, meaningful participation and empowerment of the groups targeted, and serious efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination in society as a whole. IV. The way forward: context, challenges and opportunities 32. In the words of Jonathan Mann “the human rights framework provides a more useful approach for analysing and responding to modern public health challenges than any framework thus far available with the biomedical tradition”.2 The Special Rapporteur will address the most important issues related to the discharge of his mandate with that in mind. 33. The right of everyone to physical and mental health can only be realized through concerted and sustained efforts, and shared responsibility by all stakeholders at national, regional and universal levels. It requires an unequivocal commitment to the realization of universal human rights principles as enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and human rights law and standards. 34. Building on the work of his predecessors, the Special Rapporteur will advocate for the application of the right to health framework to strengthen health systems, emphasizing the need to place the well-being of individuals and communities at the centre of health policies. He will look at processes within health systems — at how things are done and the actors involved — with particular attention devoted to access to information, participation and accountability mechanisms in place (see A/HRC/7/11, paras. 38–64). 35. The Special Rapporteur will continue applying a gender perspective in his work, with a special focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights as an integral part of the right to health. He will apply a life-cycle approach to his work, paying special attention to the needs of the children and adolescents in the realization of the right to health, and the needs of other groups in vulnerable situations, including persons with disabilities. He will continue paying attention to the issue of access to medicines, including access to essential and controlled medicines, and its human rights dimensions. 36. In the current context of the shaping of the Sustainable Development Goals, the realization of the right to health is extremely relevant, both as precondition for, and as an outcome of, a successful process of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and their main elements. 2 Mann, “Health and human rights. Protecting human rights is essential for promoting health”, British Medical Journal, No. 312 (1996), pp. 924–925. 7