The world is falling short ofand even reversingits health targets, WHO warns

"Global progress on health is falling short, slowing and even reversing, according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) 2026 World Health Statistics report. The annual check-in on progress toward the United Nations' health goals for 2030 should be sobering, said Yukiko Nakatani, the WHO's assistant director-general for health systems, at a press conference on Wednesday. Malaria incidence has increased, measles coverage remains below the threshold needed to prevent outbreaks, and maternal and child mortality decline is slowing, the report found."

"We estimate approximately 22 million excess deaths globally during this period, said Alain Labrique, the WHO's director of digital health and innovation, at the same press conference. The COVID pandemic completely erased nearly a decade of global gains in life expectancy and health life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, he said; these measures have somewhat rebounded, but progress has been uneven."

"Importantly, the 2026 report includes data up to 2024, so the effect of U.S. funding cuts to foreign aid and world health initiatives, and the Trump administration's decision to pull the U.S. from the WHO aren't captured, said Labrique. However, he said it's quite likely that, should these trends continue, and we don't see reinvigorated investment in global health, that this will have an effect on global health indicators, and ... that it may continue to cause a reversal in the patterns that we worked so hard to gain."

"There are some positive points: alcohol and tobacco consumption decreased, continuing a downward trend since 2010. New HIV"

Global progress on health toward United Nations goals for 2030 is slowing and in some areas reversing. Malaria incidence has increased, measles coverage remains below levels needed to prevent outbreaks, and declines in maternal and child mortality are slowing. Excess COVID mortality from 2020 to 2023 is estimated at about 22 million globally, exceeding what official death counts suggested. The COVID pandemic erased nearly a decade of gains in life expectancy and health life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, with partial but uneven rebounds afterward. Data through 2024 are included, so effects of recent U.S. funding cuts and withdrawal from the WHO are not captured. Alcohol and tobacco consumption continues to decline, and new HIV progress is noted.

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