GOALS FOR LIFE

Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing

Mishal Faraz, Year 9B, and Mir Faraz, Year 6H

We’re sure many of you have heard of something called the Sustainable Development Goals. But what exactly are they? The UN Sustainable Development Goals, or SGDs, are a collection of 17 goals that were set and adopted by all UN Member States in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the goals. The SDGs are the blueprint for a sustainable future, addressing global challenges such as climate change, inequality, poverty, and peace.

SDG #3: Good Health and Wellbeing. SDG #3 aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Health is one of the most basic and fundamental human rights, that every single human being on the planet is entitled to. And it doesn’t just mean physical health – it means mental health and wellbeing too. Health and wellbeing are absolutely essential and pivotal to sustainable development and building prosperous societies. Healthy people are undoubtedly the foundation for healthy economies.

Significant strides were being made to improve the health of millions of people. However, due to the pandemic, the progress rate in many health areas has drastically slowed, possibly undoing decades of improvement, and will not be sufficient to meet many of Goal 3’s targets. The pandemic is devastating health systems globally and threatens health outcomes already achieved.

It is disheartening to know that a majority of countries, particularly developing ones, have insufficient medical supplies, health facilities and healthcare workers. One of the most important things this pandemic has shown us, is that whether you live in a rich country or poor country, a global health emergency like COVID-19 puts us all in the same boat.

Facts and Figures

• A whopping 400 million people around the world don’t have access to basic healthcare.

• Every 2 seconds someone aged 30 to 70 years dies prematurely from noncommunicable diseases - cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes or cancer.

• 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air.

• 18 million more healthcare workers are needed to achieve universal health coverage by 2030.

As always, you can help by doing your bit. Start by promoting and protecting your own health and the health of those around you, by making well-informed choices. You can raise awareness in your community about the importance of good health, healthy lifestyles as well as people’s right to quality health care services. Remember, we’re all in this together!

Having been dedicated environmentalists since the past 7 years, Mishal and Mir understand how individual efforts can lead to an impactful accumulative effect on the wellbeing of the planet. “Goals for Life” is a column dedicated to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which are actually a blueprint to a healthy and sustainable planet. Though a lot of information is available on various platforms about the SDGs, it is imperative that they are propagated through as many mediums as possible and given visibility and a voice that reaches far and wide. This column endeavours to elaborate on a different SDG every month and encourage all readers to be eco-warriors, passionate leaders, and changemakers.