Global health and foreign policy: addressing the health of the most vulnerable for an inclusive society A/RES/72/139 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), which provides flexibilities for the protection of public health and promotes access to medicines for all, in particular for developing countries, and the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which recognizes that intellectual property protection is important for the development of new medicines and also recognizes the concerns about its effects on prices, Recognizing that rapidly changing technologies, particularly digital technologies, have the potential to enhance people’s access to health services, improve the responsiveness of the health system to the needs of individuals and communities and increase the quality and efficiency of health services, Recalling the political declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases 10 and the outcome document of the high-level meeting of the Assembly on the comprehensive review and assessment of the progress achieved in the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, 11 and looking forward to the high-level meeting of the Assembly on non-communicable diseases to be held in 2018, Emphasizing that the United Nations system has an important responsibility to assist Member States in the follow-up to and full implementation of agreements and commitments reached at the major United Nations conferences and summits, especially those focusing on health-related areas, Emphasizing also the primary role of the World Health Organization, as the United Nations specialized agency for health and the lead agency to support the implementation of the International Health Regulations, in fostering coordination of global health interventions to strengthen health systems and build the capacities of its member States in achieving better health outcomes, including through public health measures, health protection, including the international response to outbreaks and emergencies with health consequences, and health promo tion, and addressing social, economic, behavioural and environmental determinants of health, to promote physical and mental health and well-being for all at all ages, with special attention to improving the health of the most vulnerable, 1. Welcomes the note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Director General of the World Health Organization on the operationalization of the immediate actions and five-year action plan of the High-level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth and on global health and foreign policy, 12 and the adoption by the World Health Assembly on 29 May 2017, at its seventieth session, of the five-year action plan for health employment and inclusive economic growth (2017–2021); 13 2. Reiterates the call for more attention to health, which is a state of complete, physical, mental and social well-being, as an important cross-cutting policy issue on the international agenda, as it is a precondition for and an outcome and indicator of all three dimensions of sustainable development, and for recognition that global health challenges require policy coherence across government and concerted, sustained and intersectoral efforts; 3. Urges Member States to respect, protect and promote the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, with __________________ 10 11 12 13 17-22392 Resolution 66/2, annex. Resolution 68/300. A/72/378. World Health Organization, document WHA70/2017/REC/1, annex 2. 5/9