Global Public Health: 2022’s Sustainable Development Goals Report

November 8, 2023

Latex-gloved hands holding a pipette and test tube sample water from a creek. In 2015, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), covering everything from gender equality to climate action, was developed to transform the world by creating equity and inclusion around the globe.

Goal 3 — “Good Health and Well-being” — addresses global public health directly, but many of the other goals are health-adjacent, impacting global health in a variety of ways. To analyze and find solutions for public health goals, health care professionals, armed with the knowledge built during the completion of a comprehensive postgraduate degree program, must be ready to face setbacks with skill and determination.

What Is Global Public Health?

An internationally represented board meeting of Global Health Research and Policy determined that for an issue to fall under the description of what global health is, three identifiable factors must be present:

Global health deals with health and medical issues that have a worldwide impact.
The solutions to these global health concerns must also have the potential for a worldwide impact.
When working on global health issues, academic and scientific research is used to improve health everywhere and to minimize inequities in treatment.

Although diseases, disorders and maladies that affect millions of people are most likely included when global health is discussed, the true concept reaches far beyond identifying problems and tracking numbers. It focuses on understanding not only the illnesses themselves but also the surrounding influential factors that impact causes and contribute to solutions.

Sustainable Development Goals and Global Health

While one of the UN’s SDGs explicitly identifies key issues of global health, several others outline areas that could also contribute to reaching public health goals.

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being

The vision of Goal 3 of the SDG is to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” The specific targets for this goal include such matters as:

Improving global reproductive health and reducing mother and child mortality rates
Ending pandemic and communicable diseases and reducing mortalities from noncommunicable diseases
Bolstering efforts to prevent and treat substance abuse
Providing universal health coverage and access to sexual and reproductive services
Reducing death and illness caused by chemicals and pollution
Supporting medical research and development

5 Global Health-Adjacent Goals

Five other goals in the initiative can be connected to health and well-being, and if reached, could contribute to solving global public health concerns.

Goal 1: No Poverty

In a recent position paper, the American Association of Family Physicians drew a direct line from poverty to poor health. The impact of poverty on life, beginning even before birth, can be felt for generations.

Goal 2: Zero Hunger

The American Psychological Association says that children who experience food deficiencies and extreme hunger are much more likely to suffer from chronic health issues.

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Program (WASH) developed by UNICEF highlights the importance of clean water and sanitation, especially for children. For example, children in war-torn areas of the world are 20 times more likely to die from unsafe drinking water and diarrheal disease than from the conflict itself.

Goal 10: Reduced Inequality

When health services are not distributed equally, marginalized populations and those with higher poverty rates are more likely to not receive sufficient medical care.

Goal 14: Life Below Water

The World Wildlife Organization reports that contaminated and overfished water and polluted fisheries contribute to the decline in available seafood, a significant animal protein food source for at least 3 billion people.

Sustainable Development Goals Report: How Health Care Professionals Can Improve the Outlook

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 does not paint an optimistic picture. Although there was some progress in the areas of increased professional help with childbirth, decreased mortality rates in young children and lower numbers of adolescent birth rates worldwide, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as continued and additional national and international conflicts have jeopardized almost all of the target improvements outlined in 2015.

The report does, however, provide insight into the areas on which the health care industry should focus to make the biggest impact on global health and the well-being of every individual. Well-prepared professionals have multiple opportunities to contribute to the ongoing effort toward the goals outlined by the UN. For example:

A strong educational background in global health highlights how socioeconomic status, environment, education and other factors influence access to and quality of health care and medical services. Organizations such as the American Red Cross and the UN monitor how well ethical principles are reflected in the fair and timely distribution of services and resources. NGOs and disaster relief programs use data to find links between health care and human rights. They then use their insights to build interventions and treatments that reach even remote areas with limited access to food and clean water.
In the area of geohealth, issues that are often unique to local environments require innovative interventions to anticipate and reduce risks to the health of their communities. Agencies and organizations such as the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization depend on geohealth specialists for data and analysis as they address global health care concerns.
Community health experts develop programs that can be used throughout the world to address disease prevention, health risks and substance abuse.

Take Part in Reaching Sustainable Global Public Health Goals

When global public health issues overwhelm the news, we look to health care professionals to identify the problems, find solutions and make sure that all people are served equally and fairly. If you are interested in joining the health care teams that have a global impact during events like war and conflict, environmental disasters and disease outbreaks, find out how a Master of Public Health Online degree from USC’s Keck School of Medicine can open doors that lead to success and professional satisfaction.