WHO report says global health progress uneven, facing reversal risks
The Story
The World Health Organization published the World Health Statistics 2026 report today, showing that while some health indicators improved over the past decade, progress is slowing or reversing in several areas. The report warns that the world is off track to achieve health-related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 due to persistent challenges and emerging threats.
Key Facts
- New HIV infections fell by 40% between 2010 and 2024.
- Both tobacco use and alcohol consumption have declined since 2010.
- The number of people needing interventions for neglected tropical diseases dropped 36% between 2010 and 2024.
- Between 2015 and 2024, 961 million people gained access to safely managed drinking water, 1.2 billion to sanitation, 1.6 billion to basic hygiene, and 1.4 billion to clean cooking solutions.
- The WHO African Region achieved faster-than-global reductions in HIV (-70%) and tuberculosis (-28%).
- Malaria incidence increased by 8.5% since 2015.
- Anaemia affects 30.7% of women of reproductive age with no improvement over the past decade.
- Prevalence of overweight among children under five reached 5.5% in 2024.
- Intimate partner violence affects 1 in 4 women globally.
- The service coverage index rose from 68 to 71 between 2015 and 2023.
- One quarter of the global population faced financial hardship from health costs, and 1.6 billion people were living in or pushed into poverty due to out-of-pocket health spending in 2022.
- Childhood vaccination coverage remains below target, with immunity gaps contributing to outbreaks.
- Global maternal mortality has fallen 40% since 2000 but remains nearly three times higher than the 2030 target.
- Under-five mortality declined by 51%, yet many countries are off track.
- Air pollution contributed to an estimated 6.6 million deaths worldwide in 2021; inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene contributed to 1.4 million deaths in 2019.
- Between 2020 and 2023, COVID-19 was linked to an estimated 22.1 million excess deaths, including indirect deaths – more than three times the number of officially reported COVID-19 deaths.
- Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated, “These data tell a story of both progress and persistent inequality.”
- Dr Yukiko Nakatani stated, “With rising environmental risks, health emergencies, and a worsening health financing crisis, we must act urgently.”
- Dr Alain Labrique stated, “Data gaps severely limit the ability to monitor real-time health trends.”
Conflicting Reports
No conflicting reports identified in the source article.
Still Unclear
No open questions identified in the source article.
Misconceptions
No widespread misconceptions addressed in the source article.
Key Figures
- Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – WHO Director-General
- Dr Yukiko Nakatani – WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems, Access and Data
- Dr Alain Labrique – Director for the Department of Data, Digital Health, Analytics and Artificial Intelligence, WHO
