{"id":10326,"date":"2026-05-15T11:24:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T11:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=10326"},"modified":"2026-05-15T11:24:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T11:24:05","slug":"the-world-is-on-track-to-miss-its-health-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=10326","title":{"rendered":"The world is on track to miss its health targets"},"content":{"rendered":"
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22.1 million pandemic-related deaths<\/strong><\/p>\n
And of course the pandemic affected progress toward health goals in more direct ways: 7 million people died of covid-19. The WHO report estimates that, for each of these, there were an additional two \u201cexcess\u201d deaths related to the pandemic, due to disruptions in health care, for example. That puts the total figure at 22.1 million pandemic-related deaths.<\/p>\n
A woman dies every two minutes from \u201cmaternal causes\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n
Maternal mortality rates fell by about 40% between 2020 and 2023. But today\u2019s rate equates to 712 maternal deaths every single day. That\u2019s one every two minutes. The WHO report notes that we\u2019d have to reduce the mortality rate by almost 15% per year in order to meet the 2030 target. This seems incredibly unlikely, particularly given the recent decimation of US funding for global aid programs, which is expected to result in\u00a0thousands of additional maternal deaths.<\/p>\n
Progress has also slowed in reducing the risk of death from noninfectious diseases like cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. \u201cOverall, neither the world nor any WHO region is currently on track to meet the 2030 SDG target,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n
2.1 billion people struggle to afford health care<\/strong><\/p>\n
Despite plans to make health care more affordable, a significant chunk of the population is being pushed into poverty by health-care costs. In 2022, 2.1 billion people faced financial hardship due to health spending\u2014and 1.6 billion of them were living in or had been pushed into poverty.<\/p>\n
Across the board, there have been some important improvements in global health. But the achievements have not gone far enough. \u201cThe good news is that there is progress,\u201d says Danaei. \u201cBut as always, the glass is half empty.\u201d<\/p>\n
This article first appeared in The Checkup,\u00a0<\/em>MIT Technology Review\u2019s\u00a0weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first,\u00a0<\/em>sign up here<\/em>.<\/em>