
18/05/2025
⚠️ Global health gains are slowing, a new WHO statistics report reveals.
📉 In just two years, between 2019-2021, global life expectancy fell by 1.8 years – the largest drop in recent history – reversing a decade of health gains.
The report also summarizes global data on progress towards WHO’s triple billion targets.
Here are some of the key findings:
💪🏽 An estimated 1.4 billion more people were living healthier by the end of 2024, surpassing the 1 billion target. The progress was driven by:
🔹 Reduction in to***co use
🔹 Improved air quality
🔹 Better access to water, hygiene and sanitation
🩺 Only 431 million more people gained access to essential health services without financial hardship.
🚨 Nearly 637 million more people were better protected from health emergencies.
🤰🏽 Maternal and child deaths are not falling fast enough to reach global targets. Progress has stalled, putting millions of lives at risk.
🫀 Premature deaths from NCDs—such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer—are rising, driven by population growth and aging.
🍺 Global alcohol consumption dropped from 5.7 to 5.0 liters per capita between 2010 and 2022.
📉 HIV and TB incidence rates are falling, and fewer people need treatment for neglected tropical diseases.
🦟 Malaria has been resurging since 2015, and antimicrobial resistance remains a public health challenge.
🚫 Recent disruptions in international aid further threaten to destabilize progress, particularly in countries with the greatest health-care needs.
Learn more about the findings of the latest statistics report here ➡️
WHO published its World health statistics report 2025, revealing the deeper health impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on loss of lives, longevity and overall health and well-being.