Goal 3 : Good Health and Well Being

Good Health and Well Being

Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development. Significant strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality. Major progress has been made on increasing access to clean water and sanitation, reducing malaria, tuberculosis, polio and the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, many more efforts are needed to fully eradicate a wide range of diseases and address many different persistent and emerging health issues. Global Goal 3 focuses on all aspects of health in the world.

Why does Global Goal 3 matter?

Have you ever been so sick you couldn’t get out of bed? Broken a bone? Couldn’t stop coughing? Usually you go to the doctor, or a hospital, they do some make a diagnosis and prescribe something and you walk out a healthier person. But not everyone has that, and we usually take it for granted. Across the world over 1.3 billion people do not have access to effective and affordable health care, and 93 percent of them are in low and middle income countries. These countries only make up 18 percent of global income, and represent 11 percent of global spending on health care, meaning there’s a huge imbalance.

Maternal mortality rates are 14 times higher in developing countries than in developed countries, and only half of women in those regions have access to the recommended amount of health care.

According to the UN, over 16,000 children under 5 die every day, mainly from malnourishment, dehydration and preventable diseases. Though progress has been made, it is important to further achieve certain goals by 2030. Recognizing the interdependence of health and development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an ambitious, comprehensive plan of action for people, planet and prosperity and for ending the injustices that underpin poor health and development outcomes.

Targets of Goal 3

Some of the targets of Goal 3 are as follows:
- By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births
- By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
- By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being
- Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol
- By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents 3.7
- By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes
- Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all

What tactics will be used to achieve Goal 3, and what can you do?

The UN is spearheading a social media campaign to raise awareness of these global goals and other main platforms for world improvement in 2015.

A huge part of this is simply spreading the word any way you can. Show a friend a documentary. Send out invitations on facebook or twitter to share in the dissemination of information. Vaccinate your children.

Implore world leaders to pass laws that increase foreign aid to countries where health care may be lacking.
And possibly the most important thing is to remember. Remember that there are those less fortunate than you, who need your help. Stay up to date, stay informed, talk to friends, co-workers, take every step you can to get the word out.
2015 is a year of action.

It’s the year we stand up, not as members of individual countries, but as Global Citizens in the fight to make the world a better place for our children and for each other.