2018 HRC Resolution on human rights in the context of HIV and AIDS

38th HRC
18 July 2018

Res­o­lu­tion A/HRC/RES/38/8

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Analysis of precedential value

The UN Human Rights Coun­cil is com­posed of elected rep­re­sen­ta­tives from 47 Mem­ber States; together, they are respon­si­ble for coor­di­nat­ing inves­ti­ga­tions of and responses to human rights vio­la­tions. This doc­u­ment was co-drafted by rep­re­sen­ta­tives of 43 Mem­ber States–33 of which were not mem­bers of the sit­ting Human Rights Coun­cil–and adopted with­out a vote.

This res­o­lu­tion was adopted by the Gen­eral Assem­bly with­out a vote in July 2018.

Used as precedent

human rights, universal health coverage

• “Affirms that respect for and the pro­tec­tion and ful­fil­ment of human rights in the con­text of HIV, includ­ing uni­ver­sal access to HIV-related pre­ven­tion, diag­no­sis, treat­ment, care and sup­port, are an essen­tial ele­ment in achiev­ing the full real­iza­tion of the right of every­one to the enjoy­ment of the high­est attain­able stan­dard of phys­i­cal and men­tal health and in end­ing AIDS.” (para­graph 1)

key and vulnerable populations, stigma and discrimination

• “Urges States to ensure full and unim­peded access for all per­sons liv­ing with, pre­sumed to be liv­ing with, at risk of or affected by HIV, includ­ing key pop­u­la­tions, to HIV pre­ven­tion, diag­no­sis, treat­ment, care and sup­port, in a pub­lic health envi­ron­ment free from dis­crim­i­na­tion, harass­ment or per­se­cu­tion against those seek­ing HIV-related ser­vices, while respect­ing and pro­tect­ing their right to pri­vacy, con­fi­den­tial­ity and free and informed con­sent.” (para­graph 4)

human rights

• “Urges States to bring their laws, poli­cies and prac­tices, includ­ing their strate­gies for imple­ment­ing the HIV- and other health-related Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment Goals, fully into com­pli­ance with their oblig­a­tions under inter­na­tional human rights law, and to review or repeal those that are dis­crim­i­na­tory or that adversely affect the suc­cess­ful, effec­tive and equi­table deliv­ery of HIV pre­ven­tion, diag­no­sis, treat­ment, care and sup­port pro­grammes for all per­sons liv­ing with, pre­sumed to be liv­ing with, at risk of or affected by HIV, includ­ing key pop­u­la­tions.” (para­graph 5)

• “Strongly encour­ages States, in the con­text of HIV pre­ven­tion, diag­no­sis, treat­ment, care and sup­port, to pro­vide human rights edu­ca­tion and train­ing for health work­ers, the police, law enforce­ment offi­cers and prison staff, and other rel­e­vant pro­fes­sions, with a spe­cial focus on non-dis­crim­i­na­tion, free and informed con­sent and respect for the will and pref­er­ences of all, con­fi­den­tial­ity and pri­vacy, and non-harass­ment, so as to allow out­reach and other ser­vice activ­i­ties and to exchange best prac­tices in this regard.” (para­graph 11)

access to health products

• “Reaf­firms that access to safe, effec­tive and afford­able med­i­cines, diag­no­sis and treat­ment for all, with­out dis­crim­i­na­tion, in the con­text of epi­demics such as HIV and AIDS, is fun­da­men­tal to the full real­iza­tion of the right of every­one to the enjoy­ment of the high­est attain­able stan­dard of phys­i­cal and men­tal health.” (para­graph 9)

key and vulnerable populations

• “Calls upon States to address as a pri­or­ity the vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties faced by chil­dren affected by or liv­ing with HIV, pro­vid­ing those chil­dren and their fam­i­lies with social pro­tec­tion, sup­port and reha­bil­i­ta­tion, includ­ing social and psy­cho­log­i­cal reha­bil­i­ta­tion and care, pae­di­atric ser­vices and med­i­cines, free from stigma and dis­crim­i­na­tion, and inten­si­fy­ing efforts to elim­i­nate ver­ti­cal trans­mis­sion and to develop and pro­vide early diag­no­sis tools, child-friendly med­i­cine com­bi­na­tions and new treat­ments for chil­dren, par­tic­u­larly for infants liv­ing in resource-lim­ited set­tings, and build­ing, where needed, and sup­port­ing social secu­rity sys­tems that pro­tect them.” (para­graph 5)

comprehensive sexuality education

• “Calls upon States to accel­er­ate efforts to scale up sci­en­tif­i­cally accu­rate, age-appro­pri­ate com­pre­hen­sive edu­ca­tion, rel­e­vant to cul­tural con­texts, that pro­vides ado­les­cent girls and boys and young women and men, in and out of school, con­sis­tent with their evolv­ing capac­i­ties, with infor­ma­tion on sex­ual and repro­duc­tive health, sex­u­al­ity and HIV pre­ven­tion, gen­der equal­ity and women’s empow­er­ment, human rights, and phys­i­cal, psy­cho­log­i­cal and puber­tal devel­op­ment.” (para­graph 15)

negative legal determinants, stigma and discrimination

• “Urges States to address the mul­ti­ple and inter­sect­ing forms of dis­crim­i­na­tion and the spe­cific health-care needs expe­ri­enced by migrant and mobile pop­u­la­tions, and by refugees and cri­sis-affected pop­u­la­tions, in the con­text of HIV and to elim­i­nate stigma, dis­crim­i­na­tion and vio­lence, as well as to review poli­cies related to restric­tions on entry on the basis of HIV sta­tus with a view to elim­i­nat­ing such restric­tions and the return of peo­ple on the basis of their HIV sta­tus, and to sup­port their access to HIV pre­ven­tion, diag­no­sis, treat­ment, care and sup­port.” (para­graph 19)