The COVID-19 pandemic is not only affecting the economy but also creating the challenges to meet the existing Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Recently a statistics published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) highlighted the hindered advances in health and progress towards the SDG of longer lives due to the COVID-19 crisis.
“The good news is that people around the world are living longer and healthier lives. The bad news is the rate of progress is too slow to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and will be further thrown off track by COVID-19.”
“The pandemic highlights the urgent need for all countries to invest in strong health systems and primary health care, as the best defense against outbreaks like COVID-19, and against the many other health threats that people around the world face every day. Health systems and health security are two sides of the same coin,” said Dr.Tedros, WHO Director-General
The WHO report is an annual check conducted to evaluate the overall progress of the goals. The report analyses key health indicators like services and more to reveal the outcome and inching progress towards achieving the SDG. The present statistics, where on one end highlights improve life expectancy and health, on another side it highlights these progress to be stumbled by COVID menace.
“The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need to protect people from health emergencies, as well as to promote universal health coverage and healthier populations to keep people from needing health services through multisectoral interventions like improving basic hygiene and sanitation,” said Dr. Samira Asma, Assistant Director-General at WHO.
“The message from this report is clear: as the world battles the most serious pandemic in 100 years, just a decade away from the SDG deadline, we must act together to strengthen primary health care and focus on the most vulnerable among us in order to eliminate the gross inequalities that dictate who lives a long, healthy life and who doesn’t. We will only succeed in doing this by helping countries to improve their data and health information systems.” – Dr. Samira Asma.