A/HRC/36/19 I. Introduction 1. Pursuant to its resolution 32/15, the Human Rights Council convened, on 8 March 2017 during its thirty-fourth session, a panel discussion to exchange views on good practices and key challenges relevant to access to medicines as one of the fundamental elements of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. In the same resolution, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was requested to prepare a summary report of the discussions for submission to the Council at its thirty-sixth session. 2. The panellists were: Ruth Dreifuss, former President of Switzerland, Chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy and Co-Chair of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Access to Medicines; Michael Kirby, former Justice of the High Court of Australia and member of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Access to Medicines; Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation of the World Health Organization (WHO); Antony Taubman, Director of the Intellectual Property Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO); Thomas Bombelles, Head of Global Health at the Global Issues Sector of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); Carlos Correa, Special Adviser on Trade and Intellectual Property at the South Centre; and James Zhan, Director of the Division on Investment and Enterprise at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The discussion was moderated by the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Maria Nazareth Farani Azevêdo. 3. During the panel discussion, the panellists made brief opening statements that were followed by a debate chaired by the Vice-President of the Human Rights Council, Mouayed Saleh. States, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other Observers were encouraged to intervene through questions, comments and the sharing of good practices, challenges and recommendations on the way forward. II. Background 4. Recognizing that, in spite of the progress made in health care and treatments, millions are being left behind because of limited access to medicines and health technologies, in November 2015 the Secretary-General convened a High-level Panel on Access to Medicines “to review and assess proposals and recommend solutions to remedying the policy incoherence between the justifiable rights of inventors, international human rights law, trade rules and public health in the context of health technologies”. 1 5. In its final report,2 the High-level Panel on Access to Medicines (hereafter “Panel”) called on WTO Member States to respect the letter and spirit of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement 3 and Public Health and refrain from any action that limits its implementation and on Governments: to increase their current levels of investment in health technology; to test and implement, with relevant stakeholders, new and additional models for financing and rewarding public health research; to review, at regular intervals, access to health technologies in their respective countries in the light of human rights principles and their obligations to fulfil them, with assistance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); to require manufacturers and distributers of health technologies to disclose information on research and development costs and any public funding received; and to ensure that bilateral and regional trade and investment treaties do not interfere with their obligations to realize the right to health. In the 1 2 3 2 See “Terms of Reference”, para. 3. Available from www.unsgaccessmeds.org/reports-documents. See “Report of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Access to Medicines: promoting innovation and access to health technologies”. Available from www.unsgaccessmeds.org/final-report. WTO Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.