Global health achievements 2023
Reasons for hope
In 2023, we celebrated 75 years of the World Health Organization (WHO). It was a year to reflect on 75 years of global health achievements, while facing the multiple and complex challenges affecting our health today.
This milestone anniversary served as a powerful reminder of how working together in global solidarity has enabled us to rise to complex challenges in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.
Despite multiple health-related crises, there were many reasons for hope in 2023.
Although faced with record numbers of climate-related health challenges, and crises from new and expanding conflicts, millions of health and care workers continued striving: to protect more people from illness and suffering, to build resilience and preparedness in an increasingly turbulent world, to achieve a common goal: to give everyone everywhere the best possible chance at a safe and healthy life.
Here are just some of the global health highlights that offered hope in 2023.
The year 2023 was a record year for disease elimination, with several countries eliminating infectious diseases thanks to dedicated national efforts, and collaborative action by countries and health partners worldwide.
In March, WHO certified Azerbaijan and Tajikistan malaria-free, followed by Belize in June. Malaria affects some of the world’s most vulnerable people, and these extraordinary achievements demonstrate how a malaria-free future can become a reality.
Egypt became the first country in the world to achieve “gold tier” status on the path to eliminate hepatitis C – an important milestone towards the goal of achieving full elimination of the disease before 2030. This is an astonishing turnaround for a country that had one of the world’s highest rates of hepatitis C infection less than 10 years ago.
As of today, 50 countries have eliminated at least one neglected tropical disease (NTD), in line with WHO’s ambitious target of having 100 countries achieve this milestone by 2030.
In January, Ghana eliminated gambiense Human African trypanosomiasis, a life-threatening sleeping sickness transmitted by tsetse flies that causes significant harm in rural populations living in poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.
In May Benin and Mali eliminated trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. They were the fifth and sixth countries in Africa to achieve this significant milestone, joined by Iraq from the Eastern Mediterranean region in July.
Bangladesh and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic successfully eliminated lymphatic filariasis as a public health concern. Lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, is a debilitating parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes.
On 5 May 2023, the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared COVID-19 over as a global health emergency. He emphasized that this announcement did not mean that COVID-19 was no longer a global health threat, rather that it was time for countries to transition from emergency mode to managing COVID-19 alongside other infectious diseases.
In his announcement, the Director-General recognized the innovation of vaccine researchers and developers, the tough decisions governments had to make, and the incredible skill and selfless dedication of health and care workers. As of November 2023, 72% of people worldwide had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with 13.6 billion doses administered around the world, preventing severe illness and hospitalizations for millions of people.
We began to see promising signs of recovery in levels of childhood immunization after the backsliding that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier in the year, global partners announced “The Big Catch-up”: a coordinated effort to reverse the declines in childhood vaccination, strengthening health systems and working towards a future where no child dies of a vaccine-preventable disease.
Another important milestone during the year was WHO’s recommendation of a new vaccine for malaria prevention, providing hope to bolster malaria prevention and save hundreds of thousands of young lives in the African Region. There are now two life-saving vaccines that have been shown to be safe and effective in preventing malaria in children.
In addition, a new dengue vaccine was recommended for introduction in settings with high disease burden. The new vaccine offers hope against the mosquito-transmitted infection, of which half of the world’s population is estimated to be at risk.
Meanwhile, there was promising news in the fight against meningitis, as WHO prequalified a novel meningococcal conjugate vaccine and issued a policy for its use in the countries of the African meningitis belt, which are affected by seasonal epidemics. Men5CV has the potential to drastically change the fight against meningitis, as it is expected to be more affordable and accessible to countries in the meningitis belt than other available vaccines.
Poor and marginalized women are still disproportionately affected by cervical cancer, but there is cause for optimism with strong progress on HPV vaccination. Particularly encouraging is the progress on coverage of the single-dose recommendation endorsed by WHO. A further 30 countries have introduced the vaccine, including some with high levels of cervical cancer such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria. This brings the worldwide total to 140 countries, well on the way to reaching the 2030 goal of ensuring widespread availability of HPV vaccines for all girls worldwide.
The year began with WHO responding to a major earthquake in Türkiye and Syria, and is ending with the horrific war in Gaza. In between, the world has seen many other crises, conflict, and the continuing threat of disease outbreaks and climate change.
Every day and through the night, teams of WHO experts sift through thousands of pieces of information, including media articles and disease surveillance reports, scanning for signals of disease outbreaks, or other public health threats. In 2023, at headquarters alone, the team identified about 750 signals for in-depth analysis and discussion, requested countries to provide further information and informed governments and partners that needed to join in the response. This is one way that WHO monitors and spurs action to reduce public health threats, to keep everyone safer.
This year, WHO responded to 65 emergencies, including 22 new ones.
Many of these were related to conflict as countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine and others saw worsening conflict and insecurity. In these countries, WHO mobilized to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease outbreaks; strengthened access to essential health services, including hospital capacity to do everything from delivering new babies to treating war injuries; trained health care workers; supplied essential medicines and medical equipment; and worked to enable – and where possible, strengthen – laboratory capacity to diagnose diseases. At times, WHO staff went above and beyond, risking their lives to deliver health care alongside our partners across the humanitarian system.
WHO was also on the ground whenever disasters struck. And 2023 had its share of those: earthquakes in Afghanistan, Nepal, Syria and Türkiye; devastating floods in Libya, Pakistan and South Sudan; heatwaves, wildfires, drought and more. Deploying emergency medical teams, sending emergency medical aid and helping countries cope with the mid- and long-term health impacts of these: this is some of what WHO did.
As the IASC designated Cluster Lead Agency for Health, WHO coordinated the health assistance provided by 900 partners to meet the needs of 107 million crisis-affected people in 29 countries.
Every day, somewhere in the world, a WHO team heads out to investigate an outbreak alongside Ministry of Health experts and health workers from local communities, where health outbreaks are first detected and are first brought under control. This year saw a record-breaking resurgence of many infectious diseases – anthrax, chikungunya, cholera, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, dengue, diphtheria, influenza, RSV – that needed a coordinated regional and global response. Other outbreaks included Lassa Fever in Nigeria and Ebola disease in Uganda, as well as Marburg virus disease in Equatorial Guinea and the United Republic of Tanzania. WHO supported transportation of samples, laboratory testing in countries both centrally and locally, and the establishment of national genomic sequencing capacities. WHO also helped governments investigate cases, trace contacts of patients, set up field hospitals and more to contain the outbreaks and save lives.
Health care has also been under attack. This year alone, WHO documented over 1200 attacks on health care, affecting workers, patients, hospitals, clinics, and ambulances, across 19 countries and territories, resulting in over 700 deaths and nearly 1200 injuries.
Amidst all the crises, there has also been positive news this year. In May, following the convening of the relevant Emergency Committees, WHO’s Director-General declared an end to two Public Health Emergencies of International Concern: COVID-19 and mpox, while also stating that the threats from both are not over.
WHO’s Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Resilience Framework (HEPR) being developed with Member States and partners details the governance, financing, systems, tools and workforce needs to protect the world from health emergencies. It identifies an all-hazards approach to building key capabilities across the emergency cycle and using a One Health approach. These capabilities include collaborative surveillance, community protection, safe and scalable clinical care, access to countermeasures and emergency coordination, underpinned by a skilled and deployable workforce as well as well-managed, coordinated and inclusive critical research and innovation.
WHO’s Emergency Response Framework has been revised using the learnings of recent health emergency responses and WHO continues to support the assessment, strengthening and regular testing of national and regional preparedness, including with initiatives like the Global Health Emergency Corps (GHEC), the Public Health Emergency Operations Network (EOC-NET), the WHO Global Logistics Hub in Dubai, the Pandemic Fund, the Universal Health Preparedness Reviews (UHPR) and the interim medical countermeasures coordination mechanism (i-MCM-Net).
With its regional offices and hubs, the Public Health Intelligence and Analytics Units in Geneva, a long-standing office in Lyon for laboratory surveillance, and a new Hub in Berlin to help innovate in collaborative surveillance, WHO has been strengthening global collaboration for faster and better intelligence on health emergency threats to inform better decision-making and drive health operations.
With a continued threat of COVID-19, and the looming threat of an influenza pandemic, WHO continues to expand its networks to track respiratory pathogens with pandemic potential, utilizing its Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System and CoViNet to monitor the evolution of these pathogens, conduct risk assessments, and prepare for a potential vaccine when the need arises.
In a historic first, the organizers of COP28 hosted a dedicated health day in response to the climate-related health crisis affecting at least 3.5 billion people – nearly half of the global population. Extreme heat, weather events and air pollution caused millions of deaths in 2023, putting enormous pressure on health systems and workforce.
A new COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health was signed by over 130 countries at the UN Climate Conference. The Declaration advocates for a rapid increase in political and financial commitments, and concrete action to protect people from the devastating health impacts of the climate crisis.
In the lead-up to COP28, WHO, together with global health partners, mobilized the signatures of over 40 million health professionals calling for bold health and climate action at the Conference. WHO also released an Operational framework for building climate-resilient and low carbon health systems, as a blueprint for a future-proof and sustainable health sector in an ever-changing climate.
During the year, WHO announced that 5.6 billion people – 71% of the world’s population – are now protected with at least one WHO best practice policy to help save lives from tobacco. This is five times more than in 2007. In the 15 years since WHO’s MPOWER tobacco control measures were introduced globally, smoking rates have fallen and almost 40% of countries now have smoke-free indoor public places.
This year Mauritius became the first country in Africa, and the Netherlands the first in Europe, to put in place the full package of WHO tobacco control policies at the highest possible level, joining only two other countries, Brazil and Türkiye, which have achieved the same goal.
In another first, WHO released its first-ever report on the devastating global impact of high blood pressure: 1 in 3 adults are affected by the condition. The report indicated that approximately 4 out of every 5 people with hypertension are not adequately treated, but if countries can scale up coverage, 76 million deaths could be averted between 2023 and 2050.
Indeed, countries around the world are now scaling up to win the race against this silent killer. India launched an ambitious initiative to screen and place 75 million people with hypertension or diabetes on standard care by 2025, the Philippines is expanding its programmes to prevent and manage cardiovascular diseases, and in the WHO Region of the Americas, 33 countries have scaled up health delivery services to prevent and control cardiovascular diseases.
Since it was established in 2019, WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health has helped bring community mental health services to 50 million more people, with at least 320 000 girls, boys, women and men receiving services for mental, neurological, and substance use conditions for the first time. The Special Initiative is being implemented across WHO’s 6 regions, in Argentina, Bangladesh, Ghana, Jordan, Nepal, Paraguay, the Philippines, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.
The new WHO Global status report on road safety 2023 shows that, since 2010, the number of annual road traffic deaths has fallen by 5% to 1.19 million.
Among UN Member States, 108 countries reported a drop in road traffic-related deaths between 2010 and 2021. Ten countries succeeded in reducing road traffic deaths by over 50%.
However there is still more work to be done. Road traffic crashes kill more than two people per minute. Pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users are facing an acute and rising risk of death, with nine out of ten deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.
In May, the 76th World Health Assembly adopted its first-ever resolution on drowning prevention. Globally, an estimated 236 000 people die from drowning each year, with the highest rates among children aged 1–4 years. The Resolution requests all 194 Member States to assess the situation with regard to drowning in their country, and to implement appropriate measures to prevent drowning and save lives.
This year we celebrated 50 years of the Human Reproduction Programme (HRP), a UN special initiative championing a vision of sexual and reproductive health and rights for everyone around the world.
This unique initiative has spearheaded landmark achievements relating to research for sexual and reproductive health, enabling increased access to contraception (including emergency contraception), fertility care and safe abortion.
HRP advances critical innovations for safer pregnancy and birth. A trial this year showed major promise for reducing maternal deaths due to postpartum bleeding, the leading global cause of maternal mortality. Furthermore, the first-ever global roadmap to tackle postpartum hemorrhage was launched in October 2023.
There has also been more strong progress towards eliminating cervical cancer, with figures showing Australia is on target to achieve elimination within the next 10 years, and England’s National Health Service (NHS) pledging to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.
Progress was made in screening too: WHO prequalified a fourth HPV test in June 2023, giving countries the additional option of implementing more effective advanced screening methods to identify patients requiring treatment.
This year the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Switzerland were the first three countries to be listed as WHO-Listed Authorities, offering global recognition that the regulatory authorities meet WHO and other internationally-recognized regulatory standards and practices.
The WHO Essential Medicines List was updated in 2023 with new inclusions for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and cancer, among others. The updated list will facilitate greater access to innovative medicines and treatments that could have a large public health impact globally, without jeopardizing the health budgets of low- and middle-income countries.
Meanwhile the Essential Diagnostics List was updated with 8 new entries, including diagnostics for the self-care of diabetes. Glucose personal monitors were among the additions, along with hepatitis E tests.
There was also promising progress in supporting Member States to manage substandard and contaminated medicines. The publication of a WHO testing method for the contaminant seen in syrup medicines will help combat substandard health products which have led to at least 300 deaths in children worldwide.
Countries at this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA76) passed a historic resolution for the health of Indigenous Peoples calling for a Global Action Plan to specifically address the health disparities faced by their communities for the first time.
In June, Ministers and government representatives adopted a groundbreaking political declaration – the Rabat Declaration – committing to improve the health of refugees and migrants. One in 8 people globally is either a migrant or forcibly displaced by factors that include conflict and persecution.
Two months later, in August, WHO and partners convened the first WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit to harness the potential of evidence-based traditional, complementary and integrative medicine.
At the mid-point towards the 2030 target date for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), world leaders noted the need to double the pace of progress in support of health goals.
In September, the UN General Assembly hosted three High-Level Meetings on health – the highest number ever. Here, world leaders made a historic commitment for greater collaboration, governance and investment to prevent, prepare for and respond to future pandemics.
During the High-Level Meetings, a new Political Declaration was agreed on universal health coverage to mobilize actions to meet the 2030 target of access to quality essential health-care services for all using the primary health care approach. A new Political Declaration on ending tuberculosis was also signed, with ambitious new targets for the next 5 years to advance global efforts towards ending the TB epidemic.
As the influence of emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies continues to grow, WHO is working to ensure the safety and effectiveness of AI for health. In October, new guidance was published listing key regulatory considerations on AI for health. The document covers harnessing the potential of AI to treat or detect conditions like cancer or tuberculosis, while minimizing risks such as unethical data collection, cybersecurity threats and amplifying biases or misinformation.
WHO and the G20 India presidency announced a new Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH) at the G20 Summit hosted by the Government of India. The new initiative will operate as a WHO-managed network and platform to support the implementation of the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025.
WHO also announced a landmark digital health partnership with the European Commission, based on the European Union (EU) system of digital COVID-19 certification. This is the first building block of the WHO Global Digital Health Certification Network to develop a wide range of digital products to deliver better health for all.
In 2024 we will take further steps towards a healthier, safer and fairer world.
We will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), an initiative to provide universal access to life-saving vaccines for children worldwide. Vaccines have been one of humanity’s biggest achievements, saving countless lives. Yet in recent years, coverage with childhood vaccines has been stalling. The anniversary will provide an opportunity for decision-makers to reprioritize vaccines as a life-saving cornerstone of public health.
At the 77th World Health Assembly in May 2024, countries will consider a new international agreement known as the pandemic accord. The purpose of the accord is to prevent a repeat of the devastating health and social impacts seen as a result of COVID-19 in the event of a future pandemic.
In September 2024 there will be a UN General Assembly High-Level meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), one of the top global public health threats. AMR makes infections harder to treat and increases the risk of severe illness and death. Countries will be urged to make bold commitments to tackle this threat, accelerate action and work towards internationally-agreed targets.
The newly-established WHO Commission on Social Connection will combat loneliness and social isolation as a pressing health threat. High rates of social isolation and loneliness have serious health consequences, with increased risk of stroke, anxiety, dementia, depression and suicide. The Commission will elevate social connection as a priority and accelerate the scaling up of solutions in countries of all income levels.
The highlights above are a testament to the close collaboration of Member States to deliver on promises. In 2024, the World Health Assembly will consider WHO’s draft Fourteenth General Programme of Work. This core document will provide the strategy and roadmap for our work during the next 5 years. Our work to ensure sustainable financing for the Organization will continue, to enable us to deliver on the multiple and complex health issues facing our world today.
Read about how our donors have helped make a difference in 2023
First published on 20 December 2023
