SDG #3 Good Health and Well-Being

Did you know that more than 6 million children still die before their fifth birthday every year? 6,000 of these children die each day from preventable diseases, such as measles and tuberculosis. Every day hundreds of women die during pregnancy or from child-birth related complications. In many rural areas, only 56 percent of births are attended by skilled professionals. AIDS is now the leading cause of death among teenagers in sub-Saharan Africa, a region still severely devastated by the HIV epidemic.

In New Zealand there are significant inequalities in sexual and reproductive health outcomes, particularly for Māori. Although we’ve seen improvements, New Zealand still has high rates of teenage pregnancy as well as high and inequitable rates of sexually transmissible infections.These incidences can be avoided through prevention and treatment, education, immunization campaigns, and sexual and reproductive healthcare. The goal, is to make a bold commitment to end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other communicable diseases by 2030. The aim is to achieve universal health coverage, and provide access to safe and affordable medicines and vaccines for all. Supporting research and development for vaccines is an essential part of this process as well.