Healthier populations: Although the billion target is projected to be almost reached by 2023, progress is about one quarter of what is needed to reach the related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, estimates suggested that 900 million more people would be enjoying better health and well-being in 2023 compared to the 2018 baseline. Current progress reflects improvements made in access to clean household fuels, safe water and sanitation (WASH), and tobacco control. In other areas like obesity and malnutrition, the situation is stagnant or even worsening. Looking ahead, we now know that to achieve the health-related Sustainable Development Goals, the target needs to be almost 4 billion people reached for every 5-year period. To achieve this, greater focus is being placed on leading indicators for premature mortality and morbidity, such as tobacco, air pollution, road injuries and obesity, which are key levers for increasing healthier lives. Additionally, attention to inequalities between and within countries will be critical, since 80% of the progress in this target to date has been driven by only a handful of countries. To achieve global targets and health for all, it is necessary to ensure that efforts are sustained and that evidence-based policy solutions are not only produced but also are being implemented and driving action in countries.

Access | Triple Billion Dashboard

Health emergencies protection: Although initial projections anticipated that the billion target for health emergencies protection could be met by 2023, COVID-19 has revealed that no country is fully prepared for a pandemic of such scale. The Prepare indicator shows that country-level preparedness capacities have increased since the 2018 baseline. However, COVID-19 highlighted limitations in current metrics and has prompted the evolution of assessment methods and systematic processes to ensure they are more predictive, dynamic and holistic. Some activities central to health emergencies protection have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Prevent indicator showing more countries experiencing decrease in vaccine coverage for priority pathogens than in the previous year. Equitable access, prevention strategies, and catch-up vaccination efforts must be prioritized, scaled up and accelerated so that coverage does not further decline. The Detect, Notify and Respond indicator shows a different trend: that countries improved the timeliness for detecting events and strengthened critical public health functions such as surveillance. These gains and investments need to be sustained and expanded to cover an increasing number of emergencies. Protecting people in fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings who are disproportionately affected by health emergencies is also critical to ensure that no one is left behind. WHO is working with Member States and partners to act on recent reviews, recommendations and resolutions so that the COVID-19 pandemic is the last of its kind.

Universal health coverage: The billion target will not be reached by 2023, and progress is less than one quarter of that needed to reach Sustainable Development Goal 3.8  to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. Current estimates suggest that without course correction, we will fall short by 730 million people of reaching 1 billion more people with universal health coverage in 2023. WHO pulse surveys on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic reported that 94% of countries experienced disruption to essential health services, which increases the shortfall to 840 million. Overall, progress is still being made with average service coverage improving in most countries; but concerted efforts to meet service delivery targets in specific areas like HIV treatment, childhood immunization and blood pressure control would help to reduce the current gap in reaching the billion target by nearly half. Attention to financial hardship due to health-related spending is also timelier than ever. Over the past two decades, 92 countries have experienced little change or worsening trends in financial protection – which is now exacerbated by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Taking action on recommended policies to minimize fragmented approaches to coverage, establishing universal guarantees focused on high priority health services, and establishing budgetary measures to ensure funds flow to these services, can accelerate progress in both financial protection and service coverage. Primary health care, with its focus on multisectoral action, integrated health services, community empowerment and strengthening overall health systems functions, is a key approach towards realizing universal health coverage.

Access | Triple Billion Dashboard