Even as funding cuts, armed conflict and climate-related shocks placed immense strain on health systems worldwide in 2025, governments and global partners continued to register important gains in disease control, prevention and emergency preparedness. Disruptions to essential services were widespread, yet the year demonstrated both the resilience of health systems under pressure and the tangible results that can still be achieved through coordinated, evidence-based action. At the same time, the United Nations health agency warned that these gains remain fragile if political commitment and financing are not sustained.
A major milestone in 2025 was the strengthening of global health cooperation. Countries adopted the world’s first Pandemic Agreement and reinforced the International Health Regulations, establishing a stronger foundation for faster, more equitable responses to future health emergencies. World leaders also endorsed a landmark political declaration on noncommunicable diseases and mental health, while new evidence-based guidance was issued across a wide range of areas, including maternal care, meningitis, diabetes in pregnancy and child-friendly cancer treatments.
Progress in population health continued, though unevenly. According to the World Health Statistics 2025 report, around 1.4 billion more people are now living healthier lives, driven by reductions in tobacco use, improvements in air quality, and better access to safe water and sanitation. Immunization remained a central pillar of these gains, with global vaccination efforts reducing measles deaths by 88 per cent since 2000 and saving nearly 59 million lives. In 2025, several countries expanded human papillomavirus vaccination, moving the world closer to eliminating cervical cancer.
Despite these advances, significant challenges persisted. Conflict, supply chain disruptions and misinformation left an estimated 20 million children without essential vaccines, while maternal and child mortality rates are still declining too slowly to meet global targets. These gaps highlighted the urgent need for stronger investment in primary healthcare systems, routine immunization and safe childbirth services, particularly in fragile and crisis-affected settings.
The year was also marked by notable country-level successes in combating infectious diseases. Maldives achieved a historic “triple elimination” of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B, while Brazil eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV, becoming the most populous country in the Americas to do so. Several countries made progress against neglected tropical diseases, including the elimination of trachoma in Burundi, Egypt and Fiji, sleeping sickness in Guinea and Kenya, and river blindness in Niger, the first African country to reach this milestone. Since 2010, the number of people requiring treatment for neglected tropical diseases has fallen by nearly one-third.
Declines in tuberculosis deaths continued, particularly in Africa and Europe, where mortality has dropped by more than 45 per cent over the past decade. However, tuberculosis still claimed an estimated 1.2 million lives in 2024, reflecting ongoing vulnerabilities linked to HIV, undernutrition and weak health systems. Malaria control also advanced, with Georgia, Suriname and Timor-Leste certified malaria-free and seven additional African countries introducing malaria vaccines. Alongside improved mosquito nets and other tools, these efforts helped avert an estimated 170 million malaria cases and one million deaths in 2024.
At the same time, funding cuts in 2025 disrupted critical services, including maternal care, vaccination programmes, HIV prevention and disease surveillance, raising concerns that hard-won health gains could be reversed. Despite these pressures, the World Health Organization supported emergency responses across 79 countries and territories, including in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, by delivering medicines, keeping hospitals operational, supporting vaccination campaigns and ensuring continuity of essential health services during crises.
Looking ahead to 2026, the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement and the strengthening of the International Health Regulations are seen as signals of renewed global commitment to preparedness and collective action. The World Health Organization has reaffirmed its founding principle that the highest attainable standard of health is a universal right, emphasizing that sustained science-based solutions, solidarity and investment are essential to building a healthier, safer and more hopeful future for all.
