World remains off track to achieve health-related SDGs by 2030

• The world is falling short on health targets, with progress uneven, slowing, and in some areas reversing, according to the World Health Statistics 2026 report, published by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

• While there have been meaningful improvements in global health over the past decade, with millions benefiting from better prevention, treatment and access to essential services, persistent and emerging challenges mean that the world remains off track to achieve any of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The notable progress outlined in the report includes:

i) New HIV infections fell by 40 per cent between 2010 and 2024.

ii) Both tobacco use and alcohol consumption have declined since 2010.

iii) The number of people needing interventions for neglected tropical diseases has dropped by 36 per cent between 2010 and 2024.

iv) Access to services that shape health outcomes expanded rapidly between 2015 and 2024. 

v) During this period, 961 million people gained access to safely managed drinking water, 1.2 billion to sanitation, 1.6 billion to basic hygiene, and 1.4 billion to clean cooking solutions.

vi) The WHO African Region has achieved faster-than-global reductions in HIV and tuberculosis, and the South-East Asia Region is on track to meet its 2025 milestone for malaria reduction.

Persistent and emerging challenges

• Malaria incidence increased by 8.5 per cent since 2015, moving the world further away from global targets while overall progress remains highly uneven across regions.

• Preventable risks continue to undermine health, slowing progress. 

• Anaemia affects 30.7 per cent of women of reproductive age, with no improvement over the past decade. 

• The prevalence of overweight among children under five reached 5.5 per cent in 2024. 

• Violence against women remains widespread, with intimate partner violence affecting one in 4 women globally. 

• Progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) has slowed sharply. The global UHC service coverage index rose only slightly from 68 to 71 between 2015 and 2023. 

• One quarter of the global population faced financial hardship from health costs, and 1.6 billion people were living in or pushed into poverty due to out-of-pocket health spending in 2022. 

• At the same time, childhood vaccination coverage remains below target, with immunity gaps contributing to outbreaks.

• Although global maternal mortality has fallen by 40 per cent since 2000, it remains nearly three times higher than the 2030 target. 

• Under-five mortality has declined by 51 per cent, yet many countries are off track. 

• Progress in reducing premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases has slowed significantly since 2015.

• Many drivers of ill health — nutritional, behavioural and environmental risks — are not improving fast enough. 

Air pollution contributed to an estimated 6.6 million deaths worldwide in 2021, while inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene contributed to 1.4 million deaths in 2019.

• The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed vulnerabilities in global health systems. Between 2020 and 2023, it was linked to an estimated 22.1 million excess deaths, including indirect deaths. This is more than three times the number of officially reported COVID-19 deaths. This reveals the scale of the pandemic’s global impact, reversing a decade of gains in life expectancy, with recovery remaining incomplete and uneven across regions.

• The World Health Statistics 2026 report sends a clear message. While global health efforts are delivering results, progress is fragile and insufficient. Accelerated action, stronger health systems, and improved data are urgently needed to renew progress toward the 2030 health goals.