AHMED ABDELAZIZ (ABU DHABI)
The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) 2025 Annual World Health Statistics Report forecasts a global shortage of 11.1 million health workers by 2030.
While the report notes that the nursing workforce has grown to almost 30 million staff worldwide, there are wide inequalities between countries.
The WHO data found that 1.4 billion more people enjoyed healthier lives thanks to reduced tobacco use, cleaner air, and improved water and sanitation.
Tuberculosis rates have fallen, and fewer people needed treatment for neglected tropical diseases.
Towards a Healthy Lifestyle
The statistics showed that more than 1 billion people worldwide were living with obesity - a chronic, relapsing disease that drives non-communicable diseases and worsens outcomes for infectious diseases.
Additionally, over 120 million people have quit tobacco since 2010 – a 27% decline – thanks to tobacco control efforts in many countries worldwide. Yet, tobacco still hooks one in five adults worldwide, causing millions of preventable deaths every year. Aggressive marketing by the tobacco industry of e-cigarettes to young people is fueling a new wave of nicotine addiction that risks undermining decades of progress.
The WHO 3 by 35 Initiative, a bold global effort that aims to reduce consumption of three harmful products – tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks – through tax increases that could mobilise $1 trillion in public revenue by 2035.
Despite these successes, the organisation affirmed that progress towards increased coverage of essential health services and emergency protection still lags. Maternal and child deaths are not falling fast enough to reach global targets.
After two decades of remarkable gains, under-investment in primary healthcare and gaps in services, including immunisation and safe childbirth, are hampering progress.
The report highlighted that funding cuts in 2025 have severely disrupted services, including maternal care, vaccination, HIV prevention, and disease surveillance.
A study published in March warned these cuts could lead to 4-10 million new HIV infections and 3 million deaths by 2030.
Despite funding setbacks, the global HIV response gained new momentum with the WHO approval of twice-yearly injectable lenacapavir for HIV treatment and prevention.
WHO is helping countries adapt to the situation, with support for local production of quality medicines and diagnostics and recommendations for low-cost HIV tests.
Towards Equitable Health Systems
Since 2000, most countries – across all income levels and regions – have made progress in expanding health service coverage and reducing the financial hardship associated with health costs, according to the latest WHO/World Bank 2025 Report.
Meanwhile, the share of people experiencing financial hardship due to large and impoverishing out-of-pocket health payments declined from 34% to 26% between 2000 and 2022.
The report indicated that the poorest populations continued to bear the greatest burden, with 1.6 billion people living in poverty or pushed deeper into it due to unaffordable health costs.
WHO called for free essential health care for people living in poverty and vulnerable situations, and increasing public investment in health systems and care for chronic diseases, reducing out-of-pocket spending on medicines and other costs.
Women’s Health
As detailed in the report, WHO’s flagship World Health Day campaign titled “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures”, urged governments and the health community to ramp up efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths, and to prioritise women’s longer-term health and wellbeing.
The report outlined that women and families everywhere need high-quality care that supports them physically and emotionally before, during and after birth.
Health systems must evolve to manage the many health issues that impact maternal and newborn health. These include direct obstetric complications, mental health conditions, non-communicable diseases, and family planning. The campaign calls for investments that have been shown to yield results: every $1 invested in maternal and newborn health is estimated to yield $9-20 in return.