Correspondence
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples See Editorial page 1737 For the Lancet Series on indigenous health, see http:// www.thelancet.com/collections/ series/indigenous_health
It is just over a year since The Lancet released a Series on the health of indigenous peoples worldwide. With colleagues around the world, we documented the marginalisation, extreme poor health, and lack of human rights experienced by indigenous peoples internationally. A major call from the Lancet Series was for the UN to finally adopt, after 20 years of negotiation with indigenous peoples and national governments, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It is with enormous pleasure that we write to report to readers of The Lancet that finally, on Sept 13, 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration. The
Panel: Health-related Articles of the UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples3 Article 24 1 Indigenous peoples have the right to their traditional medicines and to maintain their health practices, including the conservation of their vital medicinal plants, animals, and minerals. Indigenous individuals also have the right to access, without any discrimination, to all social and health services. 2 Indigenous individuals have an equal right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. States shall take the necessary steps with a view to achieving progressively the full realisation of this right. Article 31 1 Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect, and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies, and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games, and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect, and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions. 2 In conjunction with indigenous peoples, States shall take effective measures to recognise and protect the exercise of these rights.
1756
General Assembly reported that “By a vote of 143 in favour to 4 against (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States), with 11 abstentions, the Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which sets out the individual and collective rights of the world’s 370 million native peoples, calls for the maintenance and strengthening of their cultural identities, and emphasises their right to pursue development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations”.1 The Declaration is a non-binding text of the UN, but it finally puts rights of indigenous peoples explicitly onto the agendas of the nation states of the world. It is also the first UN agreement that has been negotiated between the world’s nation states and the people whose human rights have been abused. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chair of the UN Permanent Forum On Indigenous Issues, released a statement to the UN General Assembly, saying that this “will be remembered as a day when the United Nations and its Member States, together with Indigenous Peoples, reconciled with past painful histories and decided to march into the future on the path of human rights”.2 All of the Articles of this Declaration have an importance for the wellbeing of the 370 million indigenous people worldwide, but the panel shows specific Articles that are important to us as public health specialists, scientists, and medical professionals.3 They reflect some of the grave failures of our scientific and medical past where, as a profession, we too often disregarded the rights of indigenous peoples through unethical studies, inappropriate medical approaches, and abuse of intellectual property rights. We now call on all health professionals to act in accordance with this important UN declaration of indigenous rights—in the ways in which we work as scientists with indigenous communities; in the ways in which we support indigenous peoples to protect and develop their traditional medicines
and health practices; in our support and development of indigenous peoples’ rights to appropriate health services; and most importantly in listening, and in supporting indigenous peoples’ self-determination over their health, wellbeing, and development. We declare that we have no conflict of interest.
*Carolyn Stephens, John Porter, Clive Nettleton, Ruth Willis
[email protected] London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK 1
2
3
United Nations General Assembly. General Assembly adopts Declaration On Rights Of Indigenous Peoples: “major step forward” towards human rights for all says President. New York: United Nations, 2007. http://www. un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/ga10612.doc. htm (accessed Oct 15, 2007). International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs. Statement Of Victoria Tauli-Corpuz , Chair of the Un Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, on the occasion of the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Copenhagen: IWGIA, 2007. http://www.iwgia.org/graphics/ Synkron-Library/Documents/ InternationalProcesses/DraftDeclaration/0709-13StatementChairofUNPFIIDeclarationAdo ption.pdf (accessed Oct 15, 2007). United Nations General Assembly. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. New York: United Nations, 2007. http://www.iwgia.org/graphics/SynkronLibrary/Documents/InternationalProcesses/ DraftDeclaration/07-09-13ResolutiontextDecl aration.pdf (accessed Oct 15, 2007).
Department of Error Cienski J. Doctor–politician relationship turns sour in Poland. Lancet 2007; 370: 555–56—In this World Report (Aug 18), the first sentence of the 13th paragraph should have read: “Prosecutors contend that Garlicki accepted more than 40 bribes worth a total of about 50 000 złotys.”
www.thelancet.com Vol 370 November 24, 2007
