A/71/304 deeply flawed approach to investment in and prioritization of human development. The Millennium Development Goals failed to recognize the impo rtance of equity, non-discrimination and equality in health, which masked inequalities and disparities within and between countries, leaving the poorest and the most marginalized even further behind. 18 41. The 2030 Agenda commits to prioritizing the poorest and most vulnerable and to reaching the furthest behind first. Ensuring healthy lives for all at all ages (Goal 3) positions equality, non-discrimination and equity as the central health issue in the 2030 Agenda, complemented by Goal 10, which calls for reducing inequalities within and among countries. However, achieving this requires a foundational shift in implementation, one that prioritizes those furthest behind, identifies and gives visibility to those populations, understands the barriers to their exclusion and establishes mechanisms and policies to enable their inclusion and empowerment (E/HLPF/2016/2, para. 109). 42. Regrettably, many of the targets and indicators developed to guide States towards achieving health equality, non-discrimination and equity by 2030 are vague (target 3.4), still commit to tracking progress in the aggregate (indicator 3.8.2) and fail to articulate the interconnected nature of many of the Sustainable Development Goals. This permits Governments to focus on easier targets or narrow implementation plans that can undermine the broader commitment to prioritize those furthest behind first. The right-to-health framework serves as a helpful tool to understand inequities, set priorities and shape a holistic set of implementation mechanisms to address that gap across the 2030 Agenda. 43. The right to health requires States to address holistically a range of barriers arising from inequality and discrimination that impede access to health care and underlying determinants of health and to prioritize vulnerable and poor members of society. 19 This is consistent with the commitment to collectively implement Sustainable Development Goal targets and, importantly, provides normative guidance for prioritization. Prioritizing resources for health 44. The financial resources required to both develop and gain access to health systems constitute a common barrier to achieving health equity, affecting the health and well-being of the world’s poorest and marginalized most acutely. Developing countries, in particular those without strong health systems, face significant challenges to achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals. The right to health requires States to prioritize provision for the most poor and marginalized, even in the face of resource barriers, through a range of measures. A few illustrative examples linking various Goals are as follows: (a) For those living in poverty or without sufficient means, States should ensure health coverage or access to care to prevent discrimination (targets 1.3 and 3.8); 20 __________________ 18 19 20 16-13597 Save the Children, “Leaving no one behind: embedding equity in the post-2015 framework through stepping stone targets” (London, 2015). Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 14, paras. 18 -19. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 14. 11/26