Global Health Setbacks Expose Deep Fault Lines as 2030 Targets Loom WHO's Fourteenth General Programme of Work (2025–2028) aims to recalibrate global health ambitions---the new targets include keeping 6 billion people healthier, expanding affordable care access to 5 billion, and better protecting 7 billion from health emergencies

As the world enters the final stretch toward the 2030 deadline for achieving health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a sobering new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) paints a picture of hard-won progress at risk of being undone. According to the World Health Statistics 2025 report, the COVID-19 pandemic has erased over a decade's worth of health gains, widened inequalities, and left critical global targets out of reach.

Between 2000 and 2019, global healthy life expectancy (HALE) rose from 58.1 to 63.5 years—largely due to reductions in deaths from infectious diseases and childhood illnesses. But the pandemic triggered a sharp 1.6-year drop in HALE within just two years, with adults aged 30 and above bearing the brunt. COVID-related deaths, along with a rise in mental health disorders like depression and anxiety, significantly contributed to this decline.

"The pandemic didn't just disrupt health systems, it reversed decades of progress," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO's Director-General. He adds, "Stronger data systems and more equitable health delivery are no longer optional, they are essential."

Missed milestones and stalled momentum

The report underscores that most countries are not on track to meet targets such as reducing premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), lowering maternal and child mortality, and tackling environmental health risks. While there have been modest declines in global mortality from conditions like stroke, heart disease, and respiratory infections, these are being offset by demographic pressures and growing disease burdens in vulnerable populations.

The slowdown is particularly stark when viewed against past momentum. For instance, while maternal mortality fell by one-third and child deaths halved between 2000 and 2019, progress has since stalled. Meanwhile, the global burden of diseases linked to air pollution, unsafe water, poor nutrition, and alcohol consumption remains alarmingly high.

Universal health coverage: still a distant goal

Progress on universal health coverage (UHC)—one of WHO's "Triple Billion" goals remains sluggish. As of 2024, only 431 million more people have gained access to essential health services without financial hardship since 2018, far short of the one-billion target. Moreover, 13.5 per cent of the global population still spends more than 10 per cent of their household income on health-related out-of-pocket expenses.

The report estimates that 344 million people were pushed further into extreme poverty in 2019 due to healthcare costs, a stark reminder of how fragile financial protection remains in many parts of the world.

Workforce woes and immunisation gaps

The global shortage of healthcare workers remains another bottleneck. Although the shortfall decreased from 15.4 million in 2020 to 14.7 million in 2023, projections suggest a gap of 11.1 million will persist by 2030, with nearly 70 per cent of it concentrated in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Childhood immunisation coverage has improved overall, yet disparities persist especially among populations living in remote areas, urban slums, or conflict zones. Encouragingly, economic-related inequality in vaccine access has narrowed in low-income countries, with DTP3 coverage gaps reducing by more than half in the last decade.

Ambitious, but necessary

In response to the slow pace of progress, WHO's Fourteenth General Programme of Work (2025–2028) aims to recalibrate global health ambitions. The new targets include keeping 6 billion people healthier, expanding affordable care access to 5 billion, and better protecting 7 billion from health emergencies.

"Behind every data point is a person, a child who didn't reach their fifth birthday, a mother lost in childbirth, a life cut short by a preventable disease," said Adhanom Ghebreyesus.