SDGs Goal 3 Good Health and Well-Being
SDGs Goal 3 is "Good Health and Well-Being" - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Good Health and Well-Being
SDGs Goal 3 is “Good Health and Well-Being” - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. It focuses on (1) child health, (2) maternal health and (3) HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being at all ages is essential to sustainable development. Currently, the world is facing a global health crisis unlike any other — COVID-19 is spreading human suffering, destabilizing the global economy and upending the lives of billions of people around the globe.
Before the pandemic, major progress was made in improving the health of millions of people. Significant strides were made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality.
But more efforts are needed to fully eradicate a wide range of diseases and address many different persistent and emerging health issues.
By focusing on providing more efficient funding of health systems, improved sanitation and hygiene, and increased access to physicians, significant progress can be made in helping to save the lives of millions.
Health emergencies such as COVID-19 pose a global risk and have shown the critical need for preparedness. The United Nations Development Programme highlighted huge disparities in countries’ abilities to cope with and recover from the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic provides a watershed moment for health emergency preparedness and for investment in critical 21st century public services.
Child health
In 2018 an estimated 6.2 million children and adolescents under the age of 15 years died, mostly from preventable causes. Of these deaths, 5.3 million occurred in the first 5 years, with almost half of these in the first month of life.
Despite determined global progress, an increasing proportion of child deaths are in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. Four out of every five deaths of children under age five occur in these regions.
Children in sub-Saharan Africa are more than 15 times more likely to die before the age of 5 than children in high income countries.
Malnourished children, particularly those with severe acute malnutrition, have a higher risk of death from common childhood illness such as diarrhoea, pneumonia, and malaria. Nutrition-related factors contribute to about 45% of deaths in children under-5 years of age.
Maternal health
Over 40% of all countries have fewer than 10 medical doctors per 10,000 people; over 55% of countries have fewer than 40 nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 people.
In Eastern Asia, Northern Africa and Southern Asia, maternal mortality has declined by around two-thirds.
Every day in 2017, approximately 810 women died from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
94% of all maternal deaths occur in low and lower middle-income countries.
Young adolescents (ages 10-14) face a higher risk of complications and death as a result of pregnancy than other women.
But maternal mortality ratio – the proportion of mothers that do not survive childbirth compared to those who do – in developing regions is still 14 times higher than in the developed regions.
HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
38 million people globally were living with HIV and 1.7 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2019. 75.7 million people have become infected with HIV since the start of the epidemic.
25.4 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy in 2019.
690 000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2019 and 32.7 million people since the start of the epidemic.
Tuberculosis remains the leading cause of death among people living with HIV, accounting for around one in three AIDS-related deaths.
Globally, adolescent girls and young women face gender-based inequalities, exclusion, discrimination and violence, which put them at increased risk of acquiring HIV. HIV is the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age worldwide.
AIDS is now the leading cause of death among adolescents (aged 10–19) in Africa and the second most common cause of death among adolescents globally.
Over 6.2 million malaria deaths have been averted between 2000 and 2015, primarily of children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. The global malaria incidence rate has fallen by an estimated 37% and the mortality rates by 58%.
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/health/
What’s been suggested?
Goal 3 Good Health and Well-Being has got the following 13 targets (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/health/).
3.1 By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births.
3.2 By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births.
3.3 By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases.
3.4 By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being.
3.5 Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol.
3.6 By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents.
3.7 By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes.
3.8 Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.
3.9 By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination.
3.A Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate.
3.B Support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and noncommunicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines, in accordance with the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which affirms the right of developing countries to use to the full the provisions in the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health, and, in particular, provide access to medicines for all.
3.C Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing States.
3.D Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks.
Why that’s important?
The link above also had got a brief report Why It Matters
Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being is important to building prosperous societies.
The pandemic has shown that in rich and poor countries alike, a health emergency can push people into bankruptcy or poverty.
Concerted efforts are required to achieve universal health coverage and sustainable financing for health; address the growing burden of zoonotic and non-communicable diseases, tackle antimicrobial resistance and environmental factors contributing to ill health.
How far are we?
In addition to “Why It Matters” above, Progress and Info is updated for each year and Sustainable Development Goals Report shows the key points of the latest situation and prograss related to Goal 3.
Obviously, this is one of the goals most affected by COVID-19. WHO is constantly updating the reports and action plans.
WHO has also got a page for Children: improving survival and well-being and UNFPA explains HIV & AIDS as well as Sexual & reproductive health. Please check out UN WOMEN and UNICEF for these issues.
Substantial progress has been made towards ending preventable child deaths. The global under-5 mortality rate was halved from 2000 to 2019 – falling from 76 to 38 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Over the same period, the global neonatal mortality rate (death in the first 28 days of life) fell from 30 to 17 deaths per 1,000 live births. Still, 5.2 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2019, with almost half of these deaths (2.4 million) occurring in the first month of life.
Globally, 83% of births were assisted by skilled health professionals, including medical doctors, nurses and midwives, according to data from 2014 to 2020. This represents a 17% increase from 2007 to 2013.
Progress in many health areas, such as in reducing maternal and child mortality, in increasing coverage of immunization, and in reducing some infectious diseases, continues, but the rate of improvement has slowed down, especially during COVID-19 which is overwhelming the health systems globally and threatens health outcomes already achieved.
In 2017, only around one third to half of the global population was covered by essential health services. If current trends continue, only 39% to 63% of the global population will be covered by essential health services by 2030.
As of June 2021, total reported deaths from COVID-19 reached 3.7 million globally. Europe and Northern America experienced the largest loss at close to 1.7 million, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean at about 1.2 million, and Central and Southern Asia at slightly under half a million.
Support for mental health is being recognized by the vast majority of countries in their COVID-19 response plans. The global suicide death rate declined by 36% between 2000 and 2019, from 14 to 9 deaths per 100,000 people.
COVID-19 disproportionately affects the elderly, the poor, refugees and migrants, and a broad range of vulnerable groups due to their specific health and socioeconomic circumstances, poor living conditions and lack of access to high-quality public health care.
…Again, I will read studies and reports relevant to this goal and keep updating this post or even write an individual post for each subtopic!