"Health Sector Co-ordinating Unit" means the executing organ for the purpose of co-ordinating the activities of the Health Sector; "Mental Health" means a state of mental well-being; "Older Person" means a person aged 65 years or above; "Primary Health Care" means essential health care based on appropriate, acceptable methods and technology, made universally accessible through community participation; "Public Health" means the effort of society to protect, promote and restore the people's health through health-related activities in order to reduce the amount of diseases, premature death, and reduce discomfort and disability in the population; "Reproductive Health" means the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of diseases or infirmity, in all matters related to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes; "Senior Official" means a Permanent Secretary or person of equivalent rank appointed to the Health Sector Committee of Senior Officials by each Member State; "Signatory" means a Member State of SADC which is signatory to this Protocol; "State Party" means a member of SADC that ratifies or accedes to this Protocol; "Technical Sub-Committee" means the committee set forth in Article 4 of this Protocol; "Tele-Health" means telemedicine together with distance learning; "Telemedicine" means the use of information and telecommunication technologies to provide health services and medical information at a distance; "Traditional Health Practitioners" means people who use the total combination of knowledge and practices, whether explicable or not, in diagnosing, preventing or eliminating a physical, mental or social disease and in this respect may rely exclusively on past experience and observation handed down from generation to generation, verbally or in writing, while bearing in mind the original concept of nature which included the material world, the sociological environment whether living or dead and the metaphysical forces of the universe; --Abbreviations AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome HIV Human Immuno Deficiency Virus SADC Southern African Development Community STDs Sexually Transmitted Diseases ARTICLE 2 PRINCIPLES StateS Parties shall act in common in pursuit of the objectives of this Protocol, which shall be implemented in accordance with the following principles: a) Striving for the formulation of regional health policies and strategies consistent with the principles contained in Article 4 of the Treaty; b) promoting, co-ordinating and supporting individual and collective efforts of Member States to attain an acceptable standard of health for all their people; c) a commitment to the Primary Health Care approach; d) promoting health care for all through better access to health services; and e) ensuring equitable and broad participation for mutual benefit in regional co-operation in health. --ARTICLE 3 OBJECTIVES 2