World health statistics 2016: monitoring health for the SDGs, sustainable development goals

Overview

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda integrate all three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) recognizing that eradicating poverty and inequality, creating inclusive economic growth and preserving the planet are inextricably linked. Health is centrally positioned within the 2030 Agenda, with one comprehensive goal (SDG 3) and its 13 targets covering all major health priorities, and links to targets in many of the other goals.

This report brings together the most recent data on the proposed health and selected health-related SDG indicators – to assess the current situation and describe crucial data gaps. In the current absence of official goal-level indicators, summary measures of health such as (healthy) life expectancy are used to provide a general assessment of the situation. As universal health coverage (UHC) is a central concern, statistics are presented on a service-coverage index and on measures of financial protection using the WHO/World Bank UHC monitoring framework. In relation to equity, special attention is given to describing the statistical situation disaggregated by key demographic, geographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Because the 2030 Agenda emphasizes the interlinked nature of all the various goals, this report also includes indicators of selected health determinants and risk factors in relation to other SDG targets. More work is required to fully integrate monitoring the health dimension in other goals.