For millions of people around the world, the lack of access to health services and affordable medications conspire against the attainment of the right to health. In poor countries, States find themselves unable to guarantee the "right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health."

Governments around the world have the responsibility to design and implement policies that take into account the disparities and alleviate the health problems of the most vulnerable groups of the population. Nonetheless, it is also the responsibility of the international community to free the resources and to provide an adequate economic framework in order to allow governments to focus on the alleviation of health problems.

Civil society plays a vital role in advocating and monitoring the governmental policies intended to attain the right to health. It also has a key role in raising awareness regarding excluded and discriminated social groups. IFHHRO and EDHUCASALUD believe that health professionals and health professionals' organisations are essential players from the civil society to guarantee and promote the right to health.

It is in this context that IFHHRO and EDHUCASALUD are organising the 2006 Conference "Exclusion and the Right to Health: as well as their first regional course in Health and Human Rights "Monitoring the Right to Health in Latin America".

oth of these events aim to create a forum and strengthen links among the civil society, health professionals and organisations that work in the field of health and human rights. Experiences and good practices will be shared to learn from each other's work on exclusion and inequity in health. The perspectives will be local, regional and global. Similarly, the international tools and mechanisms for monitoring the right to health will be discussed.