WHO: global health is advancing too slowly for the 2030 targets

The World Health Organization’s World Health Statistics 2026 report states that global health is improving, but too slowly, unevenly and not for everyone: at this pace, the Sustainable Development Goals will not be met by 2030. The document is cited by Ansa Salute and SaluteH24, both of which draw on the same report: this is therefore a single primary source, the WHO document, with no independent second source confirming it in this collection.

Among the positive data, HIV infections have fallen by 40 percent over the past fifteen years, alcohol consumption has dropped by 13 percent, and tobacco use has declined by more than 25 percent. Other indicators remain critical, however: according to the report, in 2021 air pollution was associated with approximately 6.6 million deaths worldwide, and in 2019 lack of access to safe water sources and adequate sanitation services accounted for 1.4 million deaths. In 2023, the global prevalence of anemia among women of reproductive age rose to 30.7 percent, and overweight among children under five reached 5.5 percent in 2024.

“These trends reflect an excessive number of deaths that could have been avoided” — Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems

A second analysis, conducted jointly by WHO and IARC and reported by TantaSalute, estimates that up to four in ten cancer cases are linked to modifiable or preventable factors: tobacco, alcohol, excess weight, physical inactivity, air pollution, ultraviolet radiation, and infections such as HPV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and Helicobacter pylori. In this case too, only one source is available, and we state this clearly: there is no independent second source confirming the estimate.

The document notes that cancers still rank among the leading causes of death worldwide, with Asia, owing to its sheer demographic weight, accounting for more than half of new diagnoses and deaths. It acknowledges advances in research and the consolidation of several national cancer control plans, but points out that their rollout is proceeding at uneven speeds across countries.