148. The Court has indicated that States are responsible for regulating and overseeing the provision of health services to ensure effective protection of the rights to life and personal integrity. 242 Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. 243 In relation to the right to personal integrity it is important to highlight that, according to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “reproductive health means that women and men have the freedom to decide if and when to reproduce, and the right to be informed and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of family planning of their choice, as well as the right of access to appropriate health care services.” 244 The Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo in 1994, and the Declaration and Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, also contain definitions of reproductive health and of women’s health. According to the International Conference on Population and Development (1994), “[r]eproductive rights embrace certain human rights that are already recognized in national laws, international human rights documents and other relevant UN consensus documents. These rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health.” 245 Moreover, adopting a broad and integrated concept of sexual and reproductive health, it stated that: “Reproductive health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity – in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes. Consequently, reproductive health implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life, that they are able to reproduce and that they have the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so. Implicit in this is right of men and women to be informed and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of family planning of their choice, as well as other methods of their choice for regulation of fertility, which are not against the law, and the right of access to health-care services that will enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth.” 246 149. Furthermore, according to the Conference’s Programme of Action, “in vitro fertilization techniques should be provided in accordance with ethical guidelines and appropriate medical standards.” 247 In the Declaration of the Fourth World Conference on Women (1995), the States agreed to “guarantee equal access to and equal treatment of men and women in […] health care and promote sexual and reproductive health.” 248 The Platform for Action, approved jointly with the Declaration, defined reproductive health care 242 Cf. Case of Ximenes Lopes v. Brazil, Judgment of July 4, 2006. Series C No. 149, para. 99, and Case of Albán Cornejo et al. v. Ecuador. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of November 22, 2007. Series C No. 171, para. 121. 243 Cf. the Constitution of the World Health Organization was adopted by the International Health Conference held in New York from June 19 to July 22, 1946, signed on July 22, 1946, by the representatives of 61 States, and entered into force on April 7, 1948; http://www.who.int/governance/eb/who_constitution_sp.pdf. 244 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Right, General Comment No. 14 (2000), The right to the highest attainable standard of health (Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), E/C.12/2000/4, 11 August 2000 para. 14, footnote 12. 245 Cf. Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 1994, para. 7.3; UN A/CONF.171/13/Rev.1 (1995). 246 Cf. Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 1994, para. 7.2; UN A/CONF.171/13/Rev.1 (1995). 247 Cf. Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 1994, para. 7.17; UN A/CONF.171/13/Rev.1 (1995). 248 Cf. Declaration of the Fourth World Conference <www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/pdf/BDPfA%20S.pdf. on Women, Beijing, 1995, para. 30;