WHO Reports Measurable Health Impact in 2025 Amid Transition to New Strategy

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WHO hands over US $2.3 million in ambulances, medical equipment and supplies to Kenya © Credits

WHO reports measurable health impact in 2025 amid transition to new strategy

23 April 2026 News release Reading time:
The World Health Organization (WHO) today released its Results Report, highlighting measurable improvements in people’s health worldwide in 2025, despite funding cuts affecting both the organization and the broader global health sector.

Published at a pivotal moment for global health, the Results Report demonstrates that WHO’s impact was strongest in areas where its technical leadership and comparative advantage were fully leveraged.

The report finds significant progress across all three “Triple Billion” targets under WHO’s Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13) for 2019–2025.

• an estimated 567 million additional people were covered by essential health services without experiencing catastrophic health spending in 2025, compared with the baseline in 2018 – an increase of 136 million since 2024;
• an estimated 698 million additional people were better protected from health emergencies in 2025, compared with the baseline in 2018 – an increase of 61 million since 2024; and
• an estimated 1.75 billion additional people living healthier lives in 2025, compared with the baseline in 2018 – an increase of 300 million since 2024. Despite this progress, the report cautions that important ambitions remain unmet, leaving with the world off track to meet the health-related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Nevertheless, this final snapshot under GPW 13 provides clear evidence of the value of a strong and sustainably financed WHO, reflecting enduring collaboration between WHO and its Member States at global, regional and country levels.

“The Results Report 2025 shows that with support from WHO and partners, countries have delivered tangible benefits for millions of people,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “At the same time, these gains cannot be taken for granted. Protecting and expanding them will require sustained support and investment, so that together we can continue advancing the vision set out in WHO’s Constitution: the highest attainable standard of health as a right for all.”

The WHO Results Report is released annually ahead of the World Health Assembly to assess progress and review achievements and challenges in implementing WHO’s programme budget.

Compared with previous editions, the 2025 report features stronger evidence-based reporting and clearer prioritization across country, regional and global levels, providing a more data-driven picture of where progress has been made and where further effort is needed. The full report will be presented by the Director-General at the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly (18–23 May 2026).

Significant impact and areas of improvement

This latest Results Report shows meaningful – but incomplete – progress across 46 outcome indicators and 121 output indicators that are specifically focused on the performance of the WHO Secretariat. These indicators are aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development reflecting joint accountability between WHO and its Member States.

Overall, approximately half of the output indicators were not achieved, particularly in emergency-prone and resource-constrained settings. For all three targets, financial pressures and WHO’s realignment process had several immediate consequences, such as reduced human resource capacity for delivery, limited technical support, and slowing programme implementation.

Progress towards universal health coverage was driven by expanded coverage of services for communicable diseases, including HIV and tuberculosis, prevention of bacterial diseases through improved sanitation and an expanding health workforce. However, gaps persist in areas such as diabetes management, measles surveillance and financial protection.

Progress under protection from health emergencies reflects advances in pandemic preparedness, early warning systems, prevention and response capacity. These gains were supported in part by the adopted Pandemic Agreement and the revised International Health Regulations. Areas requiring complex implementation – such as disease detection, emergency response, and polio eradication and transition – remain more challenging, reflecting constraints in country capacity, financing and operations.

Progress towards better health and well-being was driven by improvements in access to clean household energy, water, sanitation and hygiene, and reductions in air pollution, tobacco use and alcohol consumption. WHO’s global guidance, technical tools, standards and networks played a significant role in supporting these achievements.

Examples of achievements in 2025

The Results Report highlights several areas where WHO’s technical leadership and convening role delivered clear impact:

• antimicrobial resistance: expanded surveillance and evidence generation through the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS), for policy-decision making;
• mental health: strengthened emergency mental health and psychosocial support systems, increasing country coverage from 28% to 48%;
• HPV vaccination: expanded vaccine coverage with simplified single-dose schedules, raising global coverage from 17% in 2019 to 31% in 2024;
• pandemic preparedness: adoption of the Pandemic Agreement and amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), to ensure that the world is better prepared for future pandemics;
• humanitarian response: responded to 66 emergencies across 88 countries in 2025; delivering for instance 33 million medical consultations through health partners in Gaza.
• environmental health: updated global air pollution roadmap to cut deaths attributed to poor air quality by 50% by 2040; and
• One Health: strengthened high-level engagement and multisectoral dialogue and collaboration through the Quadripartite partnership, to better protect people, animals and the planet from future health crises.

Looking ahead

The report notes that a large share of WHO’s funding remains highly earmarked for specific thematic areas, which continues to limit strategic allocation in line with organizational priorities.

As the global financial landscape becomes more constrained, sustained and flexible financing will be essential to safeguard health gains, reduce persistent inequities, and enable WHO to deliver on its mandate – particularly in countries and communities most in need – for a healthier, safer, and fairer world for all.

Editor’s note

Established under GPW 13, WHO’s Triple Billion targets aimed to ensure that, by the end of 2025 compared with 2018 levels, one billion more people benefit from universal health coverage; one billion more people are better protected from health emergencies; and one billion more people enjoy better health and well-being.

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World Health Organization

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WHO Results Report 2024-2025