Ahead of the World Health Day (7 April), Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset has made the following statement:
"Health is our most precious gift - and a top concern for all Europeans.
For the Council of Europe, health is also a fundamental human right, protected by our two main human rights treaties: the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter. This right belongs to everyone across our 46 member states, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics, disability, ethnic or national origin, race, religion, language, income, or background.
Rising inequalities, demographic shifts, environmental degradation, and rapid growth of digital health technologies put health care and social protection systems to the test. In this challenging environment, the Council of Europe is intensifying its efforts to protect health and to defend the human rights that depend on it.
Now more than ever, health care is about trust, safety and access - and this calls for a holistic approach.
As part of our response, the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence requires states to consider the impact of AI throughout its entire lifecycle, ensuring that innovation never comes at the cost of people's health.
That is why the Council of Europe addresses health challenges on multiple fronts: from tackling the spread of falsified medical products and countering organ trafficking, to setting binding quality standards for the medicines we take and the care we receive, to ensuring access to health protection and investing in projects that bring care closer to those who need it most.
We support states in protecting wildlife, ecosystems and landscapes because a healthy environment plays a vital role in people's physical and mental health.
As this year's World Health Day focuses on mothers and babies, let us remember that the right to health is not a privilege for the few, but a responsibility for all of us.
On this day, and every day, let us reaffirm that equitable, high-quality health care is essential to a healthy democracy - a democracy we must protect together."
