Sustainable Development Goal 3


Sustainable Development Goal 3, regarding "Good Health and Well-being", is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. Formally, its wording is: "To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages." The targets of SDG 3 focus on various aspects of healthy life and healthy lifestyle. Progress towards the targets is measured using 21 indicators. SDG 3 aims to achieve universal health coverage and equitable access of healthcare services to all men and women. It proposes to end the preventable death of newborns, infants and children under five and end epidemics.
SDG 3 has 13 targets and 28 indicators to measure progress toward targets. The first nine targets are outcome targets:
The four means of implementation targets are:
Good health is essential to sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda. It focuses on broader economic and social inequalities, urbanization, climate crisis, and the continuing burden of HIV and other infectious diseases, while not forgetting emerging challenges such as non-communicable diseases.
Progress has been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common causes of child and maternal mortality. Between 2000 and 2016, the worldwide under-five mortality rate decreased by 47 percent. Still, the number of children dying under age five is very high: 5.6 million in 2016.

Background

The UNDP reports that "every 2 seconds, someone aged 30 to 70 years dies prematurely from non-communicable disease, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes or cancer."
According to statistics, globally, "Children face the highest risk of dying in their first month of life at an average global rate of 17 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023...In comparison, the probability of dying after the first month and before reaching age 1 was estimated at 10 deaths per 1,000 and the probability of dying after reaching age 1 and before reaching age 5 was estimated at 10 deaths per 1,000 in 2023. Globally, 2.3 million children died in the first month of life in 2023 – approximately 6,300 neonatal deaths every day.". Lack of access to quality healthcare is one of the major factors. Neonatal mortality was highest in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with the neonatal mortality rate estimated at 26 and 22 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively, in 2023.
Significant steps have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common causes of child and maternal mortality. "In 2023, the global under-five mortality rate was half of what it was in 2000 – a remarkable achievement that reflects decades of sustained investment and collaboration by governments, donors, health professionals, communities and families. Still, the journey toward ending all preventable child deaths is far from complete. An estimated 4.8 million children died before reaching their fifth birthday in 2023—overwhelmingly preventable deaths. This includes 2.3 million newborns who died within the first 28 days of life and 2.5 million children aged 1–59 months. Beyond early childhood, an additional 2.1 million children, adolescents and youth aged 5–24 also lost their lives".

Targets, indicators, and progress

The UN has defined 13 Targets and 28 Indicators for SDG 3. The main data source and maps for the indicators for SDG 3 come from Our World in Data's SDG Tracker. The targets of SDG 3 cover a wide range of issues including reduction of maternal mortality, ending all preventable deaths under five years of age, fight communicable diseases, ensure a reduction of mortality from non-communicable diseases and promote mental health, prevent and treat substance abuse, reduce road injuries and deaths, grant universal access to sexual and reproductive health care, family planning and education, achieve universal health coverage, reduce illnesses and deaths from hazardous chemicals and pollution, implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, support research, development and universal access to affordable vaccines and medicines, increase health financing and support health workforce in developing countries and improve early warning systems for global health risks.

Target 3.1: Reduce maternal mortality

The full text of Target 3.1 is: "By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births".
  • Indicator 3.1.1: Maternal mortality ratio. The maternal mortality ratio refers to the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per 100,000 live births.
  • Indicator 3.1.2: Percentage of births attended by personnel trained to give the necessary supervision, care, and advice to women during pregnancy, labour, and the postpartum period; to conduct deliveries on their own; and to care for new-borns
Target 3.1 aims to reduce maternal mortality to less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births. Maternal mortality ratio declined by 40 percent between 2000 and 2023, there were approximately 260,000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2023, most from preventable causes. In 2015, maternal health conditions were also the leading cause of death among girls aged 15–19. Key strategies for meeting SDG 3 will be to reduce adolescent pregnancy, provide better data for all women and girls, and achieve universal coverage of skilled birth attendants.

Target 3.2: End all preventable deaths under five years of age

The full text of Target 3.2 is: "By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under five 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‑five mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births."
  • Indicator 3.2.1: Under-five mortality rate. The under-five mortality rate measures the number of children per 1,000 live births who die before their fifth birthday.
  • Indicator 3.2.2: Neonatal mortality rate. The neonatal mortality rate is defined as the share of newborns per 1,000 live births in a given year who die before reaching 28 days of age.
The overall decline in under-five mortality is promising, but progress has not been as good across all age groups. Since 2000, deaths among children aged 1–59 months have fallen by 58 per cent, compared to a 44 per cent decline in neonatal deaths. Nearly half of all under-five deaths in 2023 occurred within the first 28 days of life. This shows the need for more investment in targeted interventions in this vulnerable age group.
Improving antenatal care programs could reduce the neonatal mortality rate.

Target 3.3: Fight communicable diseases

The full text of Target 3.3 is: "By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases."
  • Indicator 3.3.1: Number of new HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected population
  • Indicator 3.3.2: Tuberculosis per 100,000 population
  • Indicator 3.3.3: Malaria incidence per 1,000 population
  • Indicator 3.3.4: Hepatitis B incidence per 100,000 population
  • Indicator 3.3.5: Number of people requiring interventions against neglected tropical disease
Target 3.3 proposes to end the preventable death of newborns and children under five and to end epidemics such as AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and water-borne diseases, for example.
From 2000 to 2024, new HIV infections declined by 78 percent for children under 15 and by 63 percent among adolescents aged 15–19.
In 2023, there were about 134 tuberculosis cases per 100,000 population.

Target 3.4: Reduce mortality from non-communicable diseases and promote mental health

The full text of Target 3.4 is: "By 2030, reduce by one-third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being."
  • Indicator 3.4.1: Mortality rate attributed to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory disease
  • Indicator 3.4.2: Suicide mortality rate
In 2021, deaths caused by the four main NCDs were 19 million from cardiovascular diseases, 10 million from cancers, 4.0 million from chronic respiratory diseases, and over 2.0 million from diabetes.

Target 3.5: Prevent and treat substance abuse

The full text of Target 3.5 is: "Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol."
  • Indicator 3.5.1: Coverage of treatment interventions for substance use disorders
  • Indicator 3.5.2: Harmful use of alcohol, defined according to the national context as alcohol per capita consumption within a calendar year in litres of pure alcohol.

    Target 3.6: Reduce road injuries and deaths

The full text of Target 3.6 is: "halving the global number of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2030."
Target 3.6 has only one Indicator: Indicator 3.6.1 is the Death rate due to road traffic injuries.
The need for improvements in safer infrastructure and government regulation continues. In countries with great success, such as Sweden that boasts a 66 percent reduction in injury and deaths from 1990 to 2015, tough government regulation has been key.
A Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 was declared in March 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly. In February 2020, the Stockholm Declaration that set a global target of reducing road traffic deaths and injuries by 50 percent by 2030. In August 2020, the United Nations ratified the Stockholm Declaration declaring 2021–2030 the Second Decade of action for Road Safety.