An HIV/AIDS test in progress. HIV/AIDS Prevention care and treatment in Burkina Faso, Africa HIV: More than 117,500 patients, including 35,131 orphaned children are being cared for through a UNDP programme of support to community organizations involved in addressing HIV and AIDS and providing psychological support to AIDS patients. The programme supports 172 civil society organizations and six national networks of associations, helping to carry out 90 percent of all HIV tests nationwide. It trains all of these associations and connects them with one another. UNDP established the programme and mobilized funding from partners like France, Belgium, Austria and the Global Fund.

We have made great progress against several leading causes of death and disease. Life expectancy has increased dramatically; infant and maternal mortality rates have declined, we’ve turned the tide on HIV and malaria deaths have halved.

Good health is essential to sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda reflects the complexity and interconnectedness of the two. It takes into account widening economic and social inequalities, rapid urbanization, threats to the climate and the environment, the continuing burden of HIV and other infectious diseases, and emerging challenges such as noncommunicable diseases. Universal health coverage will be integral to achieving SDG 3, ending poverty and reducing inequalities. Emerging global health priorities not explicitly included in the SDGs, including antimicrobial resistance, also demand action.

But the world is off-track to achieve the health-related SDGs. Progress has been uneven, both between and within countries. There’s a 31-year gap between the countries with the shortest and longest life expectancies. And while some countries have made impressive gains, national averages hide that many are being left behind. Multisectoral, rights-based and gender-sensitive approaches are essential to address inequalities and to build good health for all.

Facts and figures

• At least 400 million people have no basic healthcare, and 40 percent lack social protection.
• More than 1.6 billion people live in fragile settings where protracted crises, combined with weak national capacity to deliver basic health services, present a significant challenge to global health.
• By the end of 2017, 21.7 million people living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy. Yet more than 15 million people are still waiting for treatment.
• Every 2 seconds someone aged 30 to 70 years dies prematurely from noncommunicable diseases – cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes or cancer.
• 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air.
• More than one of every three women have experienced either physical or sexual violence at some point in their life resulting in both short- and long-term consequences for their physical, mental, and sexual and reproductive health.