Everyone has the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

Posted in: Blog
on October 27, 2010
» Tags: Criminalization, Detention Centres, Harm Reduction, HIV, Human Rights Abuses, Law Enforcement, Public Health, Stigma, United Nations, War on Drugs
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Anand Grover | UN Special Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of health

As the UN Special Rapporteur it is my duty to examine and report back to the United Nations on the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The central objective of the international drug control regime is the “health and welfare of mankind”. Unfortunately, the approach taken by this regime has failed, resulting in countless human rights violations based on decades of mounting scientific evidence which I was compelled to outline in my recent submission to the UN.These violations include:

People who use drugs may be deterred from accessing services owing to the threat of criminal punishment or may be denied access to health care altogether.
Criminalization and excessive law enforcement practices undermine health promotion initiatives, perpetuate stigma and increase health risks such as HIV infection for entire populations — and not only those who use drugs.
People who use drugs are incarcerated and are in some settings forced into mandatory treatment or executed.
The current international drug control regime unnecessarily limits access to essential medications, which violates the enjoyment of the right to health.

The right to health is an inclusive right, extending not only to timely and appropriate health care, but also to the underlying determinants of health, such as widespread implementation of harm-reduction initiatives. The criminalization of drug users does not benefit society and it worsens public health and contributes to serious human rights violations.

Decriminalizing drug users, as outlined by the Vienna Declaration, would improve the health and welfare of people who use drugs and communities in general and must be recognized by governments, policy-makers, and individuals worldwide.

I encourage you to join me in endorsing the Vienna Declaration and advocating for an approach to drug policy that no longer undermines basic matters of public health and human rights but rather works to promote them.

Medicines such as Viagra that you buy online without a prescription are non-addictive and the risk comes down mostly to unwanted side effects.

Anand Grover is the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of health.