A/68/333 often have to help their families with tasks such as working in the field or fishing. This often results in dropping out of school, absenteeism, poor health and more generally a decreased quality of life, and furthers isolation. The situation is even worse for women, who suffer not only from racial or ethnic inequalities but also from gender discrimination. 32. The Special Rapporteur is convinced that the full enjoyment of the right to education is the prerequisite for the full enjoyment of other rights, such as the right to work, freedom of expression, or even the right to health. 24 For groups that are discriminated against, education is crucial for preparing and equipping them with the skills to achieve economic and social mobility and consequently to break the cycles of multidimensional poverty and discrimination. 2. The right to health 33. The Special Rapporteur notes that poverty and discrimination are often reflected in poor health status. Vulnerable and marginalized groups disproportionately face obstacles in accessing health care. Many inequalities in accessing adequate health care are related to social disparities and exclusion, themselves often the result of racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance. 34. First, from a geographical point of view, access to health care is often limited for those living in rural or economically remote areas and disparities sometimes result from laws, policies or programmes which intentionally or not concentrate services in urban areas. 25 This can lead to decreased life expectancy and poor health conditions for minorities living in marginalized areas. 35. In some cases where hospitals and clinics have been established in the rural areas quite often the services offered are of lower quality. There are instances where racial and ethnic minority groups have been victims of discrimination at the hands of health professionals. 26 As a result, these groups become reluctant to approach and use health care providers. 36. There is also a risk of mistrust in the official health services, due to stereotyping, but also due to the health service providers’ lack of cultural knowledge of a particular cultural minority. Health practices and the perception of illness can vary from one cultural community to the other. In countries using modern health systems, traditional medicine, for example, is not taken into consideration, and often suffers from negative stereotypes. In some cases, the language of the medical professionals is that of the majority cultures and there is little consideration of the language challenges of the minority cultures. This linguistic handicap can lead to poor health outcomes for poor racial and ethnic minorities. 37. The former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has noted that “it is those who are the most vulnerable in society due to gender, ancestry, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation or race and that fall into poverty who are the most exposed to the risk factors which cause illhealth”. 27 Owing to their economic and social conditions, groups that are discriminated against are more exposed to health risks and diseases. They are more __________________ 24 World Health Organization, op. cit. 26 Ibid. Ibid. 27 10/22 See A/HRC/23/56. 25 13-43133