The goal
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Digital’s positive impact
Makes health more accessible and affordable, and enables better quality.
Regional progress toward achieving this goal
As of June 2016
Africa
17/100 17% of countries in this region face a gap to the goal’s targets
83/100 83% of countries in this region face a substantial gap to the goal’s targets
0/100 0% of countries in this region have fulfilled his goal’s targets
0/100 0% of countries have insufficient data to provide a status update
Asia
56/100 56% of countries in this region face a gap to the goal’s targets
32/100 32% of countries in this region face a substantial gap to the goal’s targets
10/100 10% of countries in this region have fulfilled his goal’s targets
2/100 2% of countries have insufficient data to provide a status update
Europe
57/100 57% of countries in this region face a gap to the goal’s targets
2/100 2% of countries in this region face a substantial gap to the goal’s targets
30/100 30% of countries in this region have fulfilled his goal’s targets
11/100 11% of countries have insufficient data to provide a status update
Latin America & Caribbean
73/100 73% of countries in this region face a gap to the goal’s targets
10/100 10% of countries in this region face a substantial gap to the goal’s targets
15/100 15% of countries in this region have fulfilled his goal’s targets
2/100 2% of countries have insufficient data to provide a status update
Northern America
50/100 10% of countries in this region face a gap to the goal’s targets
25/100 25% of countries in this region face a substantial gap to the goal’s targets
25/100 25% of countries in this region have fulfilled his goal’s targets
0/100 0% of countries have insufficient data to provide a status update
Oceania
49/100 49% of countries in this region face a gap to the goal’s targets
34/100 34% of countries in this region face a substantial gap to the goal’s targets
13/100 14% of countries in this region have fulfilled his goal’s targets
3/100 3% of countries have insufficient data to provide a status update
Key challenges about health today:
437 mothers die for every 100,000 live births in the world’s least developed countries
1.25 million people die and 50 million are injured from traffic accidents each year
16% of deaths in the developed world are caused by non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular conditions and diabetes
5 ways that e-healthcare can help
Remote diagnosis
New digital, medical technologies like wearable tech, patient-doctor videoconferencing and biosensors enable people to receive diagnosis for medical problems remotely, and could easily be applied in developing countries where they could significantly cut the costs of seeing a doctor and – in the process – save lives.
Access to medical training
The fascinating field of augmented reality is actually enabling doctors to train remotely, and some health workers are now being trained in part by mobile phone, for example in remote parts of the developing world. These technologies could make significant inroads into training the number of doctors needed to cut maternal mortality to fewer than 70 in 100,000 live births. (Target 3.1)
More patient freedom
The ability to diagnose and prescribe medicine remotely also gives patients much more freedom to receive the right treatment in a way that is convenient to them.
Reducing non-communicable diseases
Wearable tech and fitness apps are allowing more people to understand and prevent conditions more easily by closely monitoring their own health statistics and taking the necessary action to avert or treat conditions, adding years to people’s lives. (Target 3.4)
Preventing road accidents
Cars that communicate with their surroundings could prevent up to 60 per cent of road traffic accidents and related fatalities and injuries from happening. With a 100 per cent adoption rate, this could save a total of around 720,000 lives and prevent 30 million injuries from road accidents. (Target 3.6)
The business case
The World Health Organization estimates that road traffic deaths and injuries in developing countries alone cause economic losses of up to 5 per cent of GDP, so technologies that reduce these will contribute significantly to equitable growth.
GeSI estimates that e-healthcare solutions could generate over $200 billion of additional annual revenues for the health sector by 2030.
1.6 bn people worldwide could have access to e-healthcare by 2030 Digital solutions ensure healthy lives.