The Millennium Development Goals, which covered the period up to 2015, included a limited set of disease-specific goals; their successor, the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, are much broader in scope. In particular, they include the broad goal “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” and call for universal health coverage.
The annual WHO World Health Statistics reports include the most recent health data from WHO member states. According to the latest data, the situation is as follows:
- Between 2000 and 2016, life expectancy and healthy life expectancy (HLE) increased by more than 8% globally and remains highly dependent on income levels.
- Overall access to basic health care services increased between 2000 and 2017, with the largest increases in low- and middle-income countries. Nevertheless, low- and middle-income countries still lag significantly behind richer countries in terms of service coverage.
- As a result of the rapid epidemiological transition and demographic changes in the burden of disease, diseases that received attention during the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) era have been replaced by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where effective interventions to address NCDs remain one of the most important challenges to health systems.
- Accurate, timely and comparable health statistics are essential for understanding public health trends. Such information is essential for policymakers to develop appropriate policies, allocate resources, and prioritize interventions. In the case of nearly one-fifth of all countries, relevant primary or direct baseline data for more than half of the indicators are not available.
- In the area of treatment of major infectious diseases and maternal, newborn and child health, coverage of treatment and prevention interventions has increased significantly, leading to a steady decline in morbidity and mortality from these diseases over the past two decades. However, the current pace of progress is unsatisfactory to meet the SDG targets for 2030, and the additional risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are hampering countries’ adherence to the SDG timeline.
Other UN agencies and funds active in health
It would be misleading to think that all of the UN system’s work in supporting global health is the responsibility of the World Health Organization. On the contrary, many UN agencies are active in this critical area. Many health issues are dealt with directly by the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council and through the efforts of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, the United Nations Population Fund (reproductive, adolescent and maternal health) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).