Sustainable Development Goals are set and adopted by countries around the on the 25th of September in 2015. The main objectives are to:

• End Poverty

• Protect the Planet

• Ensure Prosperity for All Members of Human Kind

Some Facts on Poverty

• 836 million people still live in extreme poverty.

• About one in five persons in developing regions live on less than $1.25 or about 70 Philippine pesos (as of 2023) a day belong to two regions: Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

• High poverty rates are often found in small, fragile, and conflict-affected countries.

• One in four children under age five in the world has inadequate height for his or her age.

Some Facts about Hunger

• Globally, one in nine people in the world today (795 million) is undernourished.

• The vast majority of the world's hungry people live in developing countries, where 12.9% of the population is undernourished.

• The percentage in Southern Asia has fallen in recent years but in Western Asia, it has increased slightly.

• Southern Asia faces the greatest hunger burden, with about 281 million undernourished people.

• Pour nutrition causes nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five - 3.1 million children each year.

Some Facts Related to Good Health and Well-Being of Children and Mothers

Child Health

• Since 2000, measles vaccines have averted nearly 15.6 million deaths.

• Children born into poverty are almost twice as likely to die before the age of five as those from wealthier families.

• Children of educated mothers, even mothers with only primary schooling, are more likely to survive than children of mothers with no education.

Maternal Health

• Maternal mortality has fallen by 50% since 1990.

• More women are receiving antenatal care. Antenatal care refers to medical care provided to a pregnant woman throughout her pregnancy. In developing regions, antenatal care increased from 65% in 1990 to 83% in 2012.

• The need for family planning is slowly being met for more women, but demand is increasing at a rapid pace.

• Only half of women in developing regions receive the recommended amount of health care they need.

Some Facts Related to HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases

• At the end of 2014, there were 13.6 million people accessing antiretroviral therapy. It is a medical treatment for people living with HIV.

• New HIV infections among children have declined by 58% since 2001.

• HIV is the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age worldwide.

• TB-related deaths in people living with HIV have fallen by 36% since 2004.

• There were 250,000 new HIV infections among adolescents in 2013, two-thirds of which were among adolescent girls.

• AIDS is now the leading cause of death among adolescents (aged 10-19) in Africa and the second most common cause of death among adolescents globally.

• As of 2013, 2.1 million adolescents were living with HIV.

Some Facts on Clean Water and Sanitation

• 2.6 billion people have gained access to improved drinking sources since 1990, but 663 million people are still without clean and safe water.

• Between 1990 and 2015, the portion of the global population using improved drinking water source has increased from 76% to 91%.

• Water Scarcity affects more than 40% of the global population and is projected to rise. Over 1.7 billion people are currently living in river basins where water use exceeds recharge.

• Hydropower is the most important and widely-used renewable source of energy as of 2011, represented 16% of total electricity production worldwide.

• Floods and other water-related disasters account for 70% of all deaths related to natural disasters.

• Approximately 70% of all water abstracted from rivers, lakes, and aquifers is used for irrigation.

Some Facts on Cities and Communities

• Half of humanity (3.5 billion people) live in cities today.

• 828 million people live in slums today and the number keeps rising.

• Rapid urbanization is exerting pressure of fresh water supplies, sewage, the living environment, and public health.

 Facts on Consumption and Production

• Each year, an estimated one-third of all food produced (equivalent to 1.3 billion tons worth around $1 trillion) ends up rotting in bins of consumers and retailers, or spoiling due to poor transportation and harvesting practices.

• If people worldwide switched to energy efficient light bulbs, the world would save US$120 billion annually.

Water

• Less than 3% of the world's water is fresh (drinkable), of which 2.5% is frozen in Antarctica, Arctic, and Glaciers. Humanity must therefore rely on 0.5% for all of man's ecosystems and fresh water needs.

• More than 1 billion people still do not have access to fresh water.

• Excessive use of water contributes to global water stress.

Energy

• Despite technological advances that have promoted energy efficiency gains, energy use in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries will continue to grow another 35% by 2020. Commercial and residential energy use is the second most rapidly growing area of global energy use after transport.

• Households consume 29% of global energy and consequently contribute to 21% of resultant CO₂ emissions.

Food

• 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year while almost one billion people go undernourished and another go hungry.

• Over consumption of food is detrimental to our health and the environment.

• Two billion people globally are overweight or obese.

• Land degradation, declining soil fertility, unsustainable water use, overfishing, and marine environment degradation are all lessening the ability of the natural resource base to supply food.

Some Facts Related to Oceans

• Oceans cover three-quarters of the Earth's surface, contain 97% of the Earth's water, and represent 99% of the living space on the planet by volume.

• Over three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods.

• Oceans contain nearly 200,000 identified species, but actual numbers may lie in millions.

• Oceans absorb 30% of carbon dioxide produced by humans, buffering the impacts of global warming.

• Oceans serve as the world's largest source of protein, with more than three billion people depending on the ocean's as their primary source of protein.

• Marine fisheries directly of indirectly employ 200 million people.

Some Facts about Life on Land

Forests

• Around 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood. This includes some 70 million people indigenous people.

• Forests are home to more than 80% of all terrestrial species of animals, plants, and insects.

Desertification

• 2.6 billion people depend directly on agriculture, but 52% of the land used for agriculture is moderately or severely affected by soil degradation.

• As of 2008, land degradation affected 1.5 billion people globally.

• Due to drought and desertification, each year 12 million hectares are lost (23 hectares per minute), where 20 million tons of grain could have been grown.

Biodiversity

• Of the 8,300 animal breeds known, 8% are extinct and 22% are at risk of extinction.

• Of the 80,000 tree species, less than 1% have been studied for potential use.

• Fish provide 20% of animal protein to about 3 billion people. Only three cereal crops (rice, maize, and wheat) provide 60% of energy intake.

Health Care

• Micro-organisms and invertebrates are key to ecosystem services, bet their contributions are still poorly known and rarely acknowledged.

What are the 10 Areas for National Action?

1.  Leadership, awareness, and commitment

2.  Health services' response

3.  Community action

4.  Ant-drunk-driving policies and counter measures

5.  Availability of alcohol

6. Marketing of alcohol beverages

7.  Pricing policies

8.  Reducing the negative consequences of drinking and alcohol intoxication

9.  Reducing the public health impact of illicit alcohol and informally produced alcohol

10.  Monitoring and surveillance

Mental health has become an important health issue during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to WHO, Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. People during the pandemic developed increased levels of stress, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and fear.

Mental health awareness became very important especially during the pandemic so they can understand themselves better and can seek professional treatment.

This is a plan led by WHO to develop mental health services. It was adopted during the 66th World Health Assembly. The plan was originally set to last until 2020 but was extended by 10 years during the 72nd World Health Assembly. There were 135 countries that helped in the making of a framework that would be the basis for each country in developing their mental health services.

What are the objectives of the Global Mental Health Action Plan / Comprehensive Mental Action Plan?

There are 4 major objectives of the action plan. Each one of these objectives has been linked to specific and measurable global targets and indicators, to monitor implementation, progress, and impact:

1.  Strengthen effective leadership and governance for mental health.

2. Provide comprehensive, integrated, and responsive mental health and social care services in community-based settings.

3.  Implement strategies for the promotion of mental health and the prevention of mental health problems.

4.  Strengthen information systems, evidence, and research for mental health.

According to WHO, Vaccination is a simple, safe, and effective way of protecting you against harmful diseases, before you come into contact with them. It uses your body’s natural defenses to build resistance to specific infections and makes your immune system stronger.

The first ever vaccine was created by Dr. Edward Jenner in May of 1796 in order to help people against Smallpox. He collected matter from a Cowpox sore from a milkmaid and inoculated it into 8 year old James Phillips' body. Two months later, Jenner inoculates the boy with small matter from a Smallpox sore in order to test the boy's resistance. Phillips remains in perfect health, and becomes the first human to be vaccinated against Smallpox. 

How Does It Work?

A vaccine contains deactivated or weakened version of the pathogen, which triggers an immune response to the immune system as if it's encountering a real disease. The immune system will create antibodies that will aid in fighting the disease. The antibodies will remain in the body for a very long time so that if the body is exposed to the disease, it knows how to fight it.

Vaccines Created for the COVID-19 Virus

Some of the well-known vaccines that were produced against COVID-19 are:

• Sinovac

• Phizer

• AstraZeneca

• Sputnik V

It is a global health partnership that is aimed at universal immunization. From both the governmental and private sector organizations, the group, now called GAVI Alliance, aims to save children's lives and protect people's lives by increasing access to immunization in poor countries.

Why does this exist?

It is to ensure that vaccines are available to those who need them most, regardless of where they live or their ability to pay, especially in poorer countries. In addition, it would like to ensure that the vaccines are made available in a shorter period of time; and that each country is equipped to deliver them.