WHO 2025 Report Highlights Setbacks in Global Health Progress

News 10:20 AM - 2025-05-19

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its World Health Statistics 2025 report, outlining the significant and enduring health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings are stark: global life expectancy fell by 1.8 years in just two years, representing the steepest decline in recent memory and reversing a decade of hard-won health gains.

The pandemic’s impact continues to reverberate across all areas of public health. Increased levels of anxiety and depression associated with COVID-19 have led to a global drop in healthy life expectancy by six weeks, effectively nullifying modest improvements in reducing deaths from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) during the same period.

Slow Progress and Rising Threats

The report offers a global overview of advancement towards the WHO’s Triple Billion targets—a strategic goal aiming to ensure 1 billion more people benefit from universal health coverage, 1 billion more are better protected against health emergencies, and 1 billion enjoy improved health and wellbeing.

There has been progress in some areas: by the end of 2024, 1.4 billion people were living healthier lives, owing in large part to reductions in tobacco use, better air quality, and improved access to clean water and sanitation. However, other areas have stalled. Only 431 million more individuals gained access to essential health services without facing financial hardship, and 637 million benefited from improved protection against health emergencies.

Progress in reducing maternal and child mortality has slowed considerably. Although maternal deaths fell by over 40% and under-five mortality more than halved between 2000 and 2023, current trends indicate that without swift intervention, a further 700,000 maternal deaths and 8 million under-five deaths could occur by 2030.

Mounting Burden of Chronic and Mental Illnesses

The report draws attention to the escalating burden of NCDs—including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and stroke—which have become the leading cause of death among people under the age of 70. These conditions are fuelled by ageing populations and unhealthy lifestyles, and the world is not on track to meet the goal of reducing premature NCD deaths by one-third by 2030.

Some encouraging signs remain: tobacco use is on the decline, and global alcohol consumption fell from 5.7 to 5.0 litres per person between 2010 and 2022. Nonetheless, air pollution continues to rank among the deadliest environmental hazards, and mental health issues remain a significant obstacle to global well-being.

A projected shortage of 11.1 million healthcare workers by 2030, particularly acute in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, is another major challenge to restoring essential health services.

Concerns Over Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Uptake

Infectious disease trends are mixed. While rates of HIV and tuberculosis are decreasing, and fewer people suffer from neglected tropical diseases, malaria has resurged since 2015, and antimicrobial resistance remains a growing threat. Childhood immunisation rates have yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels, with uptake of vital vaccines like DTP3 still lagging in many regions.

Fundamental health risks—such as malnutrition, poor housing, and air pollution—remain insufficiently addressed. Declining international aid is making matters worse, particularly for low-income nations with fragile health systems.

Call to Action

"Each data point represents a person—a child who did not live to see their fifth birthday, a mother lost during childbirth, or a life ended by a preventable illness,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “These are preventable tragedies that reveal major gaps in access, protection, and investment—especially affecting women and girls. Health progress is slowing, and every government has a duty to respond.”

Dr Samira Asma, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Data, Analytics and Delivery for Impact, added: “This report shows that the world is failing its health check. But countries have demonstrated that rapid improvements are possible. With speed, scale, and smart investments, every nation can make meaningful progress.”

The WHO stresses the importance of robust health systems underpinned by timely and reliable data. Through initiatives such as SCORE and the World Health Data Hub, the organisation is working with countries to enhance their health information systems, enabling more responsive and effective decision-making.



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