Vatican
City, 11 June 2013
(VIS) – Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, C.S., Holy See permanent
observer to the United Nations and other international organisations
in Geneva, addressed the 23rd Session of the Human Rights Council
after the Holy See delegation had reviewed the UN Report on Access to
Medicines. Archbishop Tomasi's statement points out an “insufficient
attention to certain factors cited as 'key elements' by the Special
Rapporteur”.
Instead
of the legal factors that were the Report's main focus, “the Holy
See Delegation found that the Report paid insufficient attention to
basic needs of individuals and families, at all stages of the life
cycle from conception to natural death.” In order to effectively
provide access to medicines, “an integral human development
approach that promotes just legal frameworks as well as international
solidarity, not only among States, but also among and between all
peoples” must be developed. The Holy See noted, with alarm, “the
difficulties millions of people face as they seek to obtain minimal
subsistence and the medicines they need to cure themselves” and
called for “establishing true distributive justice which guarantees
everyone adequate care on the basis of objective needs.”
While
the prerequisite of States' responsibility in making medicines
available is clear, “the strong engagement of non-governmental and
religious organizations in providing both medicines and a wide range
of treatment and preventive measures to ensure the full enjoyment of
the right to health also should have been acknowledged.” Archbishop
Tomasi concluded his address with the observation that “optimal
facilitation of access to medicine is a complex endeavour and
deserves comprehensive analysis and acknowledgement of all factors
contributing to its promotion, rather than a more restricted analysis
of legal, economic, and political frameworks.“
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