Health and Well-being, SDG 3.

Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all ages is what the goals of this objective aim to achieve by 2030.

The 2030 Agenda reflects and responds to the growing complexity of the connection between health and economic development, including widening economic and social inequalities, rapid urbanization, climate and environmental threats, the incidence of HIV and other infectious diseases, and the need to improve sanitation and hygiene.

However, the world is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in health. Progress across countries has been uneven, resulting in a 31-year gap between countries with the shortest life expectancies and those with the longest.

In many regions, they face serious health risks, such as high maternal and newborn mortality rates. In recent decades, significant progress has been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the most common causes of death related to child and maternal mortality, but achieving this Goal will require improved skilled birth attendance.

Community Health Project implemented by the San Juan de Dios Clinic in Iquitos in human settlements (Peru)

Here are some maternal and child health data highlighted on the United Nations website.

  • Every day, 17,000 fewer children die than in 1990, but more than five million children die each year today before reaching the age of 5.
  • Measles vaccines have prevented nearly 15.6 million deaths since 2000.
  • Children born into poverty are almost twice as likely to die before the age of five as those born into wealthier families.
  • Children of mothers who have received an education, even if only primary, have a better chance of survival than children of mothers without basic education.
  • Since 2000, maternal mortality has decreased by 371% to 379%.
  • In East Asia, North Africa and South Asia, maternal mortality has decreased by about two-thirds.
  • But the maternal mortality rate (the proportion of mothers who do not survive childbirth compared to those who do) in developing regions is still 14 times higher.
  • than in developed regions

Juan Ciudad NGO's women's empowerment project with the Hospitaller Order of Ghana

HIV in figures according to the United Nations website.

  • In 2017, 36.9 million people were living with HIV.
  • 940,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2017.
  • Around 1.8 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2017.
  • Globally, adolescent girls and young women face gender inequalities, exclusion, discrimination, and violence, which puts them at greater risk of contracting HIV.
  • HIV is the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age worldwide.

Do you know what the goals for 2030 are? Here are some of them.

  • Reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births
  • End the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, waterborne diseases and other communicable diseases
  • Reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by one-third through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being
  • Halve the number of deaths and injuries caused by traffic accidents worldwide
  • Support research and development activities for vaccines and medicines for communicable and non-communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, and facilitate access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines in accordance with the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. It affirms the right of developing countries to make full use of the provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health and, in particular, to provide access to medicines for all.

Children at the entrance to St. John of God Hospital in Asafo, Ghana.

In this PDF which you can download by clicking, answers some of your questions, such as: what can be done to help, the progress made to date, why we need to guarantee a healthy life and promote universal well-being, among other very interesting questions that we invite you to read.

To this end, I'd like to highlight the links section on the United Nations website, where you can find a wealth of information related to children, maternal health, HIV and AIDS, water, sexual and reproductive health, and other interesting topics.

Source: United Nations website:

MarĂ­a Escolar, Volunteer 2.0 for Juan Ciudad NGO

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