A/61/338 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health Summary The present report, submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council decision 1/102, reflects on the recent activities of, and issues of particular interest to, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The report examines the relationship between the right to the highest attainable standard of health and two issues at the heart of the Millennium Development Goals: access to medicines and the reduction of maternal mortality. The first chapter examines the causes of maternal mortality and how they are closely related to a failure to realize the right to the highest attainable standard of health. The chapter highlights the positive contribution of the right to health to reducing maternal mortality. Properly integrated, the right to health can help ensure that the relevant policies are more equitable, sustainable and robust. The right also provides a powerful campaigning tool in the struggle for a reduction in maternal mortality. The second chapter briefly considers the component of the right to the highest standard of health that relates to medicines, including essential medicines. Using the right to health analytical framework that has been developed in recent years, the first section focuses on the responsibilities of States. The second section provides a brief introduction to the responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies. The chapter explains that the Special Rapporteur is preparing some draft preliminary guidelines for (a) States and (b) pharmaceutical companies, on access to medicines. 2 06-51997