A/HRC/16/2 16/28 The protection of human rights in the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) The Human Rights Council, Recalling Human Rights Council resolution 12/27 of 2 October 2009 and relevant Commission on Human Rights resolutions, the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, adopted by the General Assembly on 2 June 2006 and the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, adopted by the Assembly on 27 June 2001, Recalling also the Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as “the Guidelines”) referred to in the above-mentioned resolutions and annexed to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1997/33, which provide guidance to ensuring the respect, protection and fulfilment of human rights in the context of HIV, Emphasizing the significance of the comprehensive review in 2011, as requested by the General Assembly in its resolution 65/180 of 20 December 2010, which will mark three decades of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the ten-year review of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and its time-bound measurable goals and targets, and the five-year review of the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS with the goal of achieving universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010, Recalling Human Rights Council resolution 15/22 of 30 September 2010, on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Noting with concern that almost fourteen million six hundred thousand HIV-positive people in low- and middle-income countries lack access to antiretroviral therapy, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, that an estimated one million end-stage AIDS patients have no access to treatment for moderate to severe pain, and that many people in need fail to receive treatment for tuberculosis and other HIV-related opportunistic infections, Recalling that access to medicine is one of the fundamental elements in achieving progressively the full realization of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and that it is the responsibility of States to ensure access for all, without discrimination, to medicines, in particular essential medicines that are affordable, safe, effective and of good quality, Reaffirming the right to use, to the fullest extent, the provisions contained in the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, the decision of the General Council of the World Trade Organization of 30 August 2003 on the implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration and, when formal acceptance procedures are completed, the amendments to article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement, as proposed by the General Council of the World Trade Organization in its decision of 6 December 2005, which provide flexibilities for the protection of public health, and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all, encouraging the provision of assistance to developing countries in this regard and calling for a broad and timely acceptance of the amendments to article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement, Recalling the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property, adopted by the World Health Assembly on 24 May 2008, Reaffirming the urgent need to scale up efforts significantly towards the goal of universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, GE.11-17059 73