Delivering on SDG 3
Food systems and sustainable agriculture — Europe
Origin Green can help drive the shift towards healthier, more resilient food systems
Good health and well-being
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Health is both an end in itself and the foundation on which every other development gain depends. The 2030 Agenda commits to ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages — recognising that a child who survives infancy, a mother who survives childbirth, and a community protected from preventable disease are prerequisites for the kind of society the wider Agenda envisions.
- 197 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births — against a 2030 target of 70 (2023)
- 37.4 under-five deaths per 1,000 live births — down 51% since 2000 (2024)
- 1.3m new HIV infections recorded — almost unchanged from the year before (2024)
- 87% of births attended by skilled health personnel — on track against the 90% coverage benchmark for 2030 (2025)
Figures from The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026, UN DESA/UN Statistics Division.
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.
Current progress
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.
Key events and resources
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.
Key multilateral bodies
These organisations hold the lead mandates on global health governance, HIV, reproductive and child health, and health financing under SDG 3.
-
WHO leads global health governance and hosts the World Health Assembly. -
UNAIDS coordinates the global response to HIV and AIDS. -
UNFPA leads on reproductive and maternal health. -
UNICEF tracks child survival and immunization coverage. -
The World Bank finances health systems and tracks progress toward universal health coverage (target 3.8).
Targets
Indicators
Target
3.1
By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births
Indicators
3.1.1
Maternal mortality ratio
3.1.2
Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel
Target
3.2
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
Indicators
3.2.1
Under-5 mortality rate
3.2.2
Neonatal mortality rate
Target
3.3
By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
Indicators
3.3.1
Number of new HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected population, by sex, age and key populations
3.3.2
Tuberculosis incidence per 100,000 population
3.3.3
Malaria incidence per 1,000 population
3.3.4
Hepatitis B incidence per 100,000 population
3.3.5
Number of people requiring interventions against neglected tropical diseases
Target
3.4
By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being
Indicators
3.4.1
Mortality rate attributed to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory disease
3.4.2
Suicide mortality rate
Target
3.5
Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol
Indicators
3.5.1
Coverage of treatment interventions (pharmacological, psychosocial and rehabilitation and aftercare services) for substance use disorders
3.5.2
Alcohol per capita consumption (aged 15 years and older) within a calendar year in litres of pure alcohol
Target
3.6
By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents
Indicators
3.6.1
Death rate due to road traffic injuries
Target
3.7
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
Indicators
3.7.1
Proportion of women of reproductive age (aged 15–49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods
3.7.2
Adolescent birth rate (aged 10–14 years; aged 15–19 years) per 1,000 women in that age group
Target
3.8
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
Indicators
3.8.1
Coverage of essential health services
3.8.2
Proportion of population with large household expenditures on health as a share of total household expenditure or income
Target
3.9
By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination
Indicators
3.9.1
Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution
3.9.2
Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene (exposure to unsafe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) services)
3.9.3
Mortality rate attributed to unintentional poisoning
Target
3.a
Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate
Indicators
3.a.1
Age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among persons aged 15 years and older
Target
3.b
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
Indicators
3.b.1
Proportion of the target population covered by all vaccines included in their national programme
3.b.2
Total net official development assistance to medical research and basic health sectors
3.b.3
Proportion of health facilities that have a core set of relevant essential medicines available and affordable on a sustainable basis
Target
3.c
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
Indicators
3.c.1
Health worker density and distribution
Target
3.d
Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks
Indicators
3.d.1
International Health Regulations (IHR) capacity and health emergency preparedness
3.d.2
Percentage of bloodstream infections due to selected antimicrobial-resistant organisms
-
-
Investing to avert a sanitation crisis
Health — Global
Demographics and climate change are combining to create an impending sanitation crisis in many poorer regions of the world. Averting it means investing now in safe, climate-resilient sanitation as a foundation for health, dignity, and prosperity
-
-
When work separates mothers and babies, everyone pays the price
Gender — Global
Mothers are encouraged to breastfeed, yet too often expected to do so within work systems built around separation. If we want to improve breastfeeding rates, those systems must change – through stronger legislation on workplace responsibilities, flexible working, and care arrangements that allow mothers and babies to stay together
-
Universal health coverage – a central target of the SDGs – seeks to guarantee access to essential health services without financial hardship. Achieving it, however, requires confronting the inequalities in access and quality that coverage alone cannot resolve
-
The hidden toll of maternal malnutrition in conflict settings
Gender — Global, Sub-Saharan Africa
Conflict and displacement are driving a largely overlooked crisis in maternal nutrition, with grave consequences for women, babies, and long-term development. Protecting mothers’ health is one of the most effective ways to save lives and advance progress across the SDGs in fragile settings
-
People’s rights to decide freely about sex, contraception, and parenthood are central to human dignity, economic growth, and gender equality – yet they remain under attack worldwide. Without urgent action to protect and expand these rights, decades of progress risk being undone, with young people bearing the greatest cost
-
Why demography drives global development: a hidden force behind the SDGs
Economic development — Global
Demographic change is reshaping our world in profound and unequal ways. By planning for population shifts rather than reacting to them, we can seize opportunities to drive progress in areas like education, health, sustainability, and reproductive rights – and build a fairer future for all
-
Education is the most cost-effective health intervention
Health — Global
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of preventable health issues and premature deaths worldwide. Tackling them requires long-term thinking, including investing in adolescents – the next generation of parents, citizens, and leaders
-
FGM in The Gambia: ending abusive traditions
Gender — Middle East and Northern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa
The Gambia outlawed female genital mutilation (FGM) in 2015. This year, an attempt to relegalize it almost succeeded. Why are these types of abuse so persistent and how can they be eradicated?
-
Looking for leadership
Global governance — Global
Indifference and hostility have created a leadership vacuum in development. But as practitioners do the best they can in challenging circumstances, they create their own forms of thought leadership
