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¡¡¡¡¡¶¹«¹²ÎÀÉú¿ÚÒë½Ì³Ì¡·£º¡¡¡¡The key point here is that, while securing adequate financing is critical, ensuring that the burden of costs is shared fairly is equally important.¡¡¡¡Similarly, we are not just concerned with access to health care, but with how people are treated when they need services.¡¡¡¡We regard responsiveness of health systems-which includes ensuring confidentiality, reducing waiting times, involvement in decision making-as a proper and legitimate goal in its own right.¡¡¡¡Here, there is a direct link with human rights. For, at the root of the concem for equality and freedom from discrimination in human rights thinking and practice, lies the notion of human dignity: the equal and inherent value of every human being.¡¡¡¡In recent years, we have become clearer as to what the right to health should actually mean. First and foremost, it is an inclusive right: it is not just about health care services-it is also about the underlying determinants ofill health.¡¡¡¡These are much broader and include access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, a supply of safe and nutritious food, healthy occupational and environmental conditions and access to information, including information about sexual and reproductive health.¡¡¡¡Chair.¡¡¡¡At the heart of the primary health care and Health for All movement, which has been so infiuential in shaping health policies in Europe, lies a concern for equity.¡¡¡¡But, we all know that, in every country represented here today, there are groups of people that are missing out on what our health systems have to offer. The human rights framework can help us address the needs ofthese groups.¡¡¡¡The causes of social exclusion are many and varied. Some groups, such as ethnic minorities and the economically disadvantaged get overlooked when we work with national averages. But, there are also those whose needs are obvious, but whose cause is politically unpopular-l think here ofirregular migrants, for example.¡¡¡¡Paying attention to vulnerable population groups constitutes an essential element in a human rights approach because the right to health demands giving priority attention to those most in need. This is important in itself, but the fact that these rights are part of an internationally recognized legal framework also places an obligation on governments.¡¡¡¡The right to health is a goal for which all governments, rich and poor, should strive. Of course, this cannot be achieved overnight. All nations face constraints, in many cases posed by limited resources. This is why the principle of progressive realization is central to the achievement of all human rights.¡¡¡¡But, this principle is not an excuse for inaction. The right to health also contains immediate obligations to take concrete, deliberate and targeted steps towards full realization. This is why we need good benchmarks and indicators.¡¡¡¡When WHO reviewed national constitutions globally, we found that over half of the countries in the Council of Europe had enshrined health as a human right.¡¡¡¡This commitment is expressed in various ways-some constitutions commit the govemment to providing the best health care that is available and practicable; most recognize health as a right expressed variously in terms such as the right to protection of health, the right to a healthy environment, or the right to social security, medical insurance and medical services.¡¡¡¡Within the European Union, the debate on the Convention on the future of Europe and the publication of a draft constitutional treaty, has similarly raised to the forefront the debate¡¡¡¡on the level ofpriority afforded to health in the context of Community policies and activities. We welcome the move to include an explicit reference to the fundamental human right to health in the draft constitutional treaty outlining the Union's basic values. Let me end these remarks by looking beyond Europe.¡¡¡¡¡­¡­