The right to health is consistently violated as regulatory frameworks fail to protect people from being exposed to pollution and toxic waste. Violations of the right to health caused by the dumping of toxic waste or the pollution of drinking water or other elements is widespread, especially for poor people whose right to health and to life itself are not respected. This is particularly true in countries where natural resource extraction - of oil, gold or other resources - is underregulated and the rights of the poor, indigenous and marginalized go unprotected by their governments. According to the World Health Organization, about 2 billion people lack access to even basic healthcare. Millions of women die needlessly from lack of care during childbirth. More than 11 million people die from infectious diseases because they cannot afford basic medicines. As health and health research is privatized and patented, those who cannot pay are excluded, and the poorest are condemned to a life of anxiety, pain and poverty. 
The right to physical and mental health is a fundamental human right, but millions of people worldwide have no access to basic healthcare services and cannot afford even the most basic medicines.
