Executive Overview
Progress towards meeting the triple billion targets, a milestone to the Sustainable Development Goals
The world is off track to reach most of the triple billion targets and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals. However, with concrete concerted action to accelerate progress, a substantive subset of them could still be achieved.
Impact on the ground
How WHO is achieving impact where it matters most
- Improved access to quality essential health services irrespective of gender, age or disability status
- Countries enabled to provide high-quality, people-centred health services, based on primary health care strategies and comprehensive essential service packages
Working together
Explore the progress
Improved access to essential medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and devices for primary health care
Global concerns over access to affordable medicines impeding progress towards universal health care, highlighted by COVID-19 pandemic.
Access is a global concern given the high prices of new pharmaceuticals and the rapidly changing markets for health products, which place increasing pressure on the ability of health systems to provide full and affordable access to quality health care.
The high percentage of health spending on medicines impedes progress for the many countries that have committed to the attainment of universal health care. Furthermore, it is known that a large proportion of the population in low-income countries who spend money on health have to pay out-of-pocket for medicines. With the rise in noncommunicable diseases and chronic conditions that require long-term treatment, the financial burden on both governments and patients will become even greater.
These constraining financial implications have been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has revealed the insufficiency of global manufacturing capacity and the need to strengthen regional and national supply chains.
