UN Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good health and wellbeingGlobal health and wellbeing

Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations have issued 17 ambitious goals to try and build a better, fairer, and more sustainable future for the world.

Sustainable Development Goal 3 aims to improve people's lives through good health and wellbeing.

Watch the video below to find out more about the complex mix of health problems faced in India and some of the ways this is being tackled.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown how quickly infection and disease can spread around the world and the impact it can have on health, education, the economy and people's life prospects. It has also highlighted both the benefits and issues of health systems around the world.

Before Covid-19, many parts of the world were already having to deal with diseases and illnesses that can severely impact and even shorten life expectancy and quality of life.

Causes of death

In 2019, the leading causes of death in low income countries were neonatal conditions and lower respiratory infections.

Although deaths from communicable diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS have fallen, they still kill hundreds of thousands of people every year. Access to affordable healthcare and medicines is essential to help address this.

Source: WHO - top ten causes of death.

Global health facts

• In 2019, 690 000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses
• Four out of every five deaths of children under age five occur in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia
• The rate of mothers dying in childbirth is 14 times higher in developing regions

Source: UN Sustainable Development Goals