Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Achieving SDG 3 requires far more than expanding hospitals and clinics. It depends on safe water and sanitation that prevent disease before it starts (SDG 6), the reduction of poverty that determines whether families can afford care and nutritious food (SDG 1), and the gender equality that determines whether women control decisions over their own bodies and pregnancies (SDG 5).
Most acutely, the goal is now threatened by funding pressures on several fronts at once. Decades of gains in maternal survival, HIV treatment and child health were built on a combination of domestic health financing, health-system capacity and sustained international investment — and international funding, in particular, is now retreating just as needs are rising. Reversing the decline in development assistance for health (SDG 17), alongside strengthening domestic financing and health systems, is fast becoming a decisive test of whether progress made since 2000 can be sustained through to 2030.
Progress on SDG 3 is mixed, with substantial gains offset by signs that momentum is slowing just as funding retreats. The global maternal mortality ratio fell from 328 per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 197 in 2023, but progress remains far short of the 2030 target of 70, and roughly 260,000 women still died of pregnancy-related causes in 2023 — one every two minutes. Low-income countries recorded 346 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births against just 10 in high-income countries. Skilled birth attendance rose from 80 per cent in 2015 to 87 per cent in 2025, putting the world on track against the 90 per cent coverage benchmark used for 2030 — a benchmark tracked alongside target 3.1, rather than one of its own formal numerical targets.
Under-five mortality fell to 37.4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024, a 51 per cent decline since 2000, though 4.9 million children still died before their fifth birthday. On HIV, new infections have fallen 30 per cent and AIDS-related deaths 35 per cent since 2015, yet 1.3 million new infections in 2024 were little changed from the prior year, and more than 9 million people living with HIV remain without antiretroviral treatment — a figure that includes both those diagnosed but not yet on treatment and those never diagnosed.
Reproductive health indicators continue to improve, with modern contraceptive use reaching 886 million women and their partners in 2026, 78 million more than in 2015. Meanwhile, official development assistance for health has fallen back to 2015 levels, with further cuts projected. The full picture of official indicators is tracked by the UN Statistics Division in its annual SDG progress report.
The primary annual flagship report tracking SDG 3 is the World Health Statistics report, published by WHO each May, which compiles official data across all health-related SDG indicators; the 2026 edition, released in May 2026, warned that the world is falling short of — and in places reversing — its health targets. On HIV specifically, UNAIDS publishes its Global AIDS Update each July, ahead of the International AIDS Conference, tracking new infections, treatment coverage and funding for the global HIV response.
The primary intergovernmental forum is the World Health Assembly (WHA), WHO’s supreme decision-making body, which meets each May in Geneva. The Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA79) took place 18–23 May 2026; the Eightieth session is expected in May 2027. SDG 3 progress is also reviewed annually at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) each July in New York.
These organisations hold the lead mandates on global health governance, HIV, reproductive and child health, and health financing under SDG 3.
By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births
Maternal mortality ratio
Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel
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
Under-5 mortality rate
Neonatal mortality rate
By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
Number of new HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected population, by sex, age and key populations
Tuberculosis incidence per 100,000 population
Malaria incidence per 1,000 population
Hepatitis B incidence per 100,000 population
Number of people requiring interventions against neglected tropical diseases
By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being
Mortality rate attributed to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory disease
Suicide mortality rate
Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol
Coverage of treatment interventions (pharmacological, psychosocial and rehabilitation and aftercare services) for substance use disorders
Alcohol per capita consumption (aged 15 years and older) within a calendar year in litres of pure alcohol
By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents
Death rate due to road traffic injuries
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
Proportion of women of reproductive age (aged 15–49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods
Adolescent birth rate (aged 10–14 years; aged 15–19 years) per 1,000 women in that age group
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
Coverage of essential health services
Proportion of population with large household expenditures on health as a share of total household expenditure or income
By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination
Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution
Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene (exposure to unsafe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) services)
Mortality rate attributed to unintentional poisoning
Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate
Age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among persons aged 15 years and older
Support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non-communicable 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
Proportion of the target population covered by all vaccines included in their national programme
Total net official development assistance to medical research and basic health sectors
Proportion of health facilities that have a core set of relevant essential medicines available and affordable on a sustainable basis
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
Health worker density and distribution
Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks
International Health Regulations (IHR) capacity and health emergency preparedness
Percentage of bloodstream infections due to selected antimicrobial-resistant organisms
Climate — Global
The nascent concept of “bioeconomy” offers a new sustainable paradigm where economic growth supports nature rather than plunders it. Can bioeconomies genuinely transform regions like the Amazon, plagued by decades of resource extraction and exploitation, in the face of powerful, global, corporate interests?
Climate — Global, Sub-Saharan Africa
Climate change is extending the reach of malaria. Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) is working with partners in malaria-endemic countries to adapt, anticipate, prevent, and treat the disease
Climate — Global
How do we protect the ever-increasing numbers of people forced to abandon their homelands due to the devastating impacts of our warming planet?
Human rights — Global
Access to safe drinking water and sanitation are established human rights. Yet, halfway through the Water Action Decade, billions of people are still denied them. This year, nations have pledged to drive transformation to a water-secure world, and must now urgently act on their promises
Economic development — Global
The world’s poorest countries have most to gain from tech like AI that can rapidly accelerate SDG action, but are often the least able to utilize such innovations. We need a global, cooperative effort to ensure that the technical tools and skills that humankind has developed are available to all
Health — Global
At current progress rates, 1.6 billion people will lack safely managed drinking water by 2030. Ramping up financial and political investment in access to water, sanitation, and hygiene, particularly in the world’s poorest countries and in the face of climate change, is now essential for achieving the SDGs
Energy — Global
Each year, trillions of dollars are poured into harmful fossil fuel subsidies or tax breaks that undermine our progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Shifting these funds to fuel the clean energy transition would accelerate access to basic energy services, improve public health, and put the world on a safer climate trajectory
Financing — Global
At the mid-point on the way to 2030, SDG financing is under pressure. Reforms of the global finance system, and more targeted financing solutions, are needed to get back on track to meet the Global Goals
Gender — Global
Over a billion women and girls worldwide lack safe and adequate sanitation. Addressing this fundamental human right offers a unique chance to both address poor sanitation and foster gender equality
Gender inequalities in energy access are substantial but largely unmeasured. SDG 7 – affordable and clean energy – is one of six SDGs without gender-specific indicators. Clean and safe energy is a prerequisite for achieving all the social and economic SDGs, and SDG 5 – gender equality – will only be achieved if a more targeted approach is adopted on energy
