the obligation to protect requires States to take constitute a threat to the availability, accessibility, measures that prevent third parties from interfering acceptability with article 12 guarantees. and services; to control the marketing of medical equipment and medicines by third parties; and to ensure that medical practitioners and other health professionals meet appropriate standards of education, skill and ethical codes of conduct. States are also obliged to ensure that harmful social or traditional practices do not interfere with access to pre- and post-natal care and family-planning; to prevent third parties from coercing women to undergo traditional practices, e.g. female genital mutilation; and to take measures to protect all vulnerable or marginalized groups of society, in particular women, Finally, the obligation to fuiffi requires States to adopt appropriate legislative, administrative, budgetary, judicial, promotional and other measures towards the full realization of the right to health. specific Jegal obligations 34, In particular, States are under the obligation to respect the right to health by, inter alia, refraining from denying or limiting equal access for all persons, including prisoners or detainees, minorities, asylum and quality of health facilities, goods abstaining children, adolescents and older persons, in the light of gender-based expressions of violence, States should from enforcing discriminatory practices as a State policy; and abstaining from imposing discriminatory also ensure that third parties do not limit people's access to health-related information and services. and seekers and curative illegal palliative preventive, to immigrants, services; health practices relating to women’s health status and needs. furthermore, obligations to respect include a State's abligation to refrain from prohibiting or impeding traditional preventive care, healing practices and medicines, from marketing unsafe drugs and from applying coercive medical treatments, unless on an exceptional basis for the treatment of mental illness er the prevention and contro! of communicable diseases. Such exceptional cases should be subject 36. Theobligation to fulfil requires States parties, inter alia, to give sufficient recognition to the right to health in the national political and legal systems, preferably by way of legislative implementation, and to adopt a national health policy with a detailed plan for realizing the right to health. States must ensure provision of health care, including immunization programmes against the major infectious diseases, and ensure to specific and restrictive conditions, respecting best equal practices and applicable international standards, including the Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care.*4 of health, such as nutritiously safe food and potable access for all to the underlying drinking water, basic sanitation and adequate housing and living conditions. should provide Public for sexual health and in addition, States should refrain from limiting access and other means of maintaining sexual and reproductive health, from censoring, withholding or intentionally misrepresenting healthrelated information, including sexual education and information, as well as from preventing people's participation in health-related matters. States should also refrain from unlawfully polluting air, water and soil, e.g, through industrial waste from State-owned facilities, from using or testing nuclear, biological or chemical weapons if such testing results in the release of substances harmful to human health, and from limiting access to health services as a punitive measure, e.g. during armed conflicts in violation of international humanitarian law. infrastructures reproductive services, including safe motherhood, to contraceptives determinants health particularly in rural areas. States have to ensure the appropriate training of doctors and other medical personnel, the provision of a sufficient number of hospitals, clinics and other health-related facilities, and the promotion and support of the establishment of institutions providing counselling and mental health services, with due regard to equitable distribution throughout the country. Further obligations include the provision of a public, private or mixed health insurance system which is affordable for all, the promotion of medical research and health education, as well as information campaigns, in particular with respect to HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, traditional practices, domestic violence, the abuse of alcohol and the use of cigarettes, drugs and other harmful substances. States are also required to adopt measures against measures ensuring equal access to health care and environmental and occupational health hazards and against any other threat as demonstrated by epidemiological data, For this purpose they should health-related services provided by third parties; to ensure that privatization of the health sector does not formulate and implement national policies aimed at reducing and eliminating pollution of air, water and 35. Obligations to protect include, inter alia, the duties of States to adopt legislation or to take other = 24 General Assembly resolution 46/119 (1991). soil, including lead from pollution gasoline. by heavy Furthermore, metals States such parties as are GENERAL COMMENTS AND STATEMENTS 37