After the creation of the Millennium Development Goals, there has been tremendous progress in reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and tackling HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases.
This ambition continues with SDG3, which aspires to promote the best possible health and well-being for all. Four targets were selected for assessment of the third SDG, as these have the most comprehensive datasets. These targets addressed a reduction in the global maternity mortality ratio; an end to preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5-years of age; an end to the AIDS epidemic; and a one third reduction of premature mortality from non-communicable diseases.
The forecasts for USA and OECD are rated green for all targets. With the exception of premature mortality from non-communicable diseases, China is also rated green for overall goal achievement. The forecast for BRISE is green, yellow, and red for the four targets, and ROW has been rated yellow and red. Both regions get a yellow rating in total, with ROW close to a red rating. There are significant uncertainties in our assessments.
Five regions: USA, OECD (excl. USA), China, BRISE (Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa and 10 other emerging economies), ROW (rest of the world).
Green light: Goal likely to be reached.
Orange light: Goal not likely to be reached, but more than 50% of the gap between today's status and the goal is likely to be closed.
Red light: Goal not likely to be reached, and less than 50% of the gap between today's status and the goal is likely to be closed.
Healthcare faces deepening threats to its ability to meet the needs of humanity. Inequitable access, ageing populations, spiralling costs, the rise of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), the declining efficacy of antibiotics… all these mean that continued deployment of traditional healthcare methods is not sustainable.
At a time when new solutions are desperately needed in healthcare, developments in another industry sector – ICT – may provide many of the breakthroughs. Hi Technologies is a small company with big ideas, and even bigger ambitions: to reinvent and humanize medical technology.
“We should not be seeing children dying because of problems that were solved by medicine a long time ago,” says the company's CEO, Marcus Figueredo. “We already have the technology, the processes, and the healthcare professionals. The problem is one of politics, about investing in access.”
Hi Technologies also sees a role in business servicing the wider healthcare community with population information statistics using artificial intelligence. “We are creating ways to analyze not only individual vital signs or clinical labs exams, but also triangulating our data with geography and social media to see how diseases spread. Chronic diseases are not spread by infection, but relate to behavioural changes and changes in lifestyle.”