Achieving global health goals faces significant challenges, with progress slowing since 2015 in areas like maternal mortality, premature deaths from major noncommunicable diseases, and access to essential healthcare. Inequalities persist, especially among vulnerable populations, exacerbated by the climate crisis. To meet the SDG 3 targets by 2030, substantial investment and focus are needed to address these challenges, including tackling inequality and environmental factors. Urgent action is required to protect vulnerable groups and regions with high disease burdens.
Target 3.1: The global maternal mortality ratio marginally declined from 227 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015 to 223 in 2020. Reaching the global maternal mortality rate target of 70 per 100,00 live births will require an annual rate of reduction of 11.6% between 2021 and 2030. Two regions, subSaharan Africa and Southern Asia, accounted for around 87% (249,000) of the estimated global maternal deaths in 2020. Globally, skilled birth attendance rose from 80% in 2015 to 86% in 2023. There are, however, significant regional disparities, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where the rate was just 73% in 2023.
Target 3.2: In 2022, global under-five deaths was 4.9 million, down from 9.9 million in 2000 and 6.0 million in 2015. The under-five mortality rate fell to 37 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022—51% lower than in 2000 and a 14% decline since 2015. Similarly, the global neonatal mortality rate fell to 17 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022, a 44% and 12% decrease from the 2000 and 2015 levels, respectively.
Target 3.3: Mixed progress is observed towards the SDG target of ending communicable diseases a). There were an estimated 1.3 million new HIV infections in 2022, 27% fewer than in 2015, and 38% fewer than in 2010. Increased access to HIV treatment has averted almost 20.8 million AIDS-related deaths in the past three decades. b). The reported global number of people newly diagnosed with TB was 7.5 million in 2022, the highest since 1995. On the other hand, the annual number of people who died from TB decreased in 2022 after two consecutive years of increase due to COVID-19 pandemic. c). In 2022, there were an estimated 249 million malaria cases globally, exceeding the pre-pandemic level of 233 million in 2019. d). In 2022, 1.62 billion people required interventions and care for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a 26.1% of decline from 2010. As of December 2023, 50 countries, territories and areas have eliminated at least one NTD.
Target 3.5: Global drug-related treatment coverage has decreased from approximately 11% in 2015 to under 9% in 2022. Alarmingly, treatment coverage for women consistently lags behind that for men across all regions. In 2022, over 13% of men with drug use disorders received treatment globally, while less than 6% of women did. Moreover, data on treatment coverage for alcohol use disorders vary widely, ranging from a mere 0.3% to a maximum of 14% in reporting countries.
Target 3.7: The proportion of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods increased slightly from 76.5% to 77.6% between 2015 and 2024. This corresponds to an increase of 75 million women of reproductive age using modern methods since 2015. The adolescent birth rate has globally declined from 47.2 births per 1,000 girls and women aged 15 to 19 years in 2015 to 40.7 in 2024.
Target 3.8: The proportion of the population not covered by essential health services decreased by about 15% between 2000 and 2021, with minimal progress made after 2015. In 2021, about four and a half billion people were not covered by essential health services.
Target 3.a: In 2022, the global prevalence of current tobacco use among the population aged 15+ was estimated at 20.9%. This translates to around 1.25 billion adult tobacco users in the world. The prevalence has declined since 2015 when it was 23.9%, and the number of users has decreased by 50 million.
Target 3.b: Coverage of the third dose of vaccine protecting against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP-3) recovered to 84% in 2022, an improvement from 81% in 2021 but still below the 2019 level of 86%. In 2022, 20.5 million children remained vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases. The current 2-dose measles vaccine coverage of 74% is insufficient to prevent outbreaks. HPV vaccine declined significantly during the pandemic, but 2022 saw the first encouraging signs of recovery in vaccination with 15% full scheduled coverage among girls.
Target 3.c: While a recent study shows that the projected global shortage of health workers by 2030 has reduced from 18 million to 10 million, the aging of the population induces an increased health need and further widens this gap. An additional 1.8 million health workers are needed in fifty-four countries (mostly from high-income countries) just to maintain the current age-standardized density of health workers.
