11 October 2023 – RC70 today saw the launch of the second volume in a series of progress reports on the Eastern Mediterranean Region’s efforts towards achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The regional Vision 2023 is anchored in and contributes to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Progress on the health-related Sustainable Development Goals and targets in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 2023 presents country- and regional-level trends, challenges and key actions to speed up progress on the health-related SDG targets by 2030. While SDG 3 is the goal dedicated to health and well-being, its realization relies upon achieving many of the other 16 SDGs – as they represent vital social, economic and environmental determinants of health.

The first volume in the series, Progress on the health-related Sustainable Development Goals and targets in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 2020, reported insubstantial progress prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Region unlikely to meet the 2030 targets for half of the SDG indicators. The Eastern Mediterranean Region is diverse and dynamic, and faces tremendous challenges, including widespread poverty, underresourced health systems, protracted and acute conflicts and natural disasters. The global pandemic has further hampered advances in many countries owing to pressure on health systems, as well as economic challenges, including high inflation, facing many of the Region’s countries. The latest progress report, launched today, sets out the work still to be done by 2030.