UN expert on right to health to make first visit to Armenia

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dainius Pūras, will visit Armenia from 25 September to 5 October 2017, to assess to what extent people’s right to health is being realized.

 “The purpose of this visit is to learn how Armenia is working to guarantee people’s right to health, including the measures already taken, the achievements made and the challenges that remain,” said Mr. Pūras, the first Special Rapporteur on the right to health to visit the country.

The Special Rapporteur will examine the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of healthcare services, as well as factors that affect the realization of the right to health, such as poverty, discrimination and violence.

“I will be particularly interested in addressing specific issues that come within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” the expert said.  “These include universal health coverage, health promotion and the prevention of non-communicable diseases, primary healthcare, mental health care - in particular community-based services, the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and the role of academic medicine, medical education and research.”

The Special Rapporteur will examine the situation of particular groups within the population, such as women, children, migrants, people who use drugs, and people with disabilities. He will have meetings and visit facilities and institutions in Yerevan, Abovyan, Dilijan, Spitak, and Vanazdor. 

The UN Special Rapporteur will share his preliminary observations on the visit with the media at a press conference on 5 October 2017 at 15:00, at the UN House, 14 Petros Adamyan Street, Yerevan.  Please note that access is strictly limited to journalists.

Mr. Pūras will present a comprehensive report on his visit to Armenia to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2018.

The Special Rapporteur on the right to health is an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to help States, and others, promote and protect the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Dainius Pūras (Lithuania) is a medical doctor with notable expertise on mental health, child health, and public health policies. He is a Professor and the Head of the Centre for Child Psychiatry and Social Paediatrics at Vilnius University, and teaches at the Faculty of Medicine, Institute of International relations and political science and Faculty of Philosophy of Vilnius University, Lithuania. 

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.