been ratified by the great majority of countries (180 countries).: 7 in 2019 the global average value for the "age-standardized smoking prevalence among ages 15 and older" was 17%, down from nearly 25% in 1990, which is a positive development.: 36 target 3.b: support research, development and universal access to affordable vaccines and medicines world map for indicator 3.b.1 - share of children who receive key vaccines in target populations the full text of target 3.b is: "support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non‑communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines, in accordance with the doha declaration on the trips agreement and public health, which affirms the right of developing countries to use to the full the provisions in the agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health, and, in particular, provide access to medicines for all." indicator 3.b.1: proportion of the target population covered by all vaccines included in their national program. indicator 3.b.2: total net official development assistance (oda) to medical research and basic health sectors. indicator 3.b.3: proportion of health facilities that have a core set of relevant essential medicines available and affordable on a sustainable basis. a review in 2017 pointed out that "as little as 1% of all funding for health r&d is allocated to diseases that are predominantly incident in developing countries".: 7 sdg 3 aims to achieve universal health coverage, including access to essential medicines and vaccines. around two in five countries will need to accelerate progress in order to reach sdg targets for immunization. immunization averts an estimated 2 million to 3 million deaths every year.: 35 world map for indicator 3.c.1 in 2016 - health worker density and distribution target 3.c: increase health financing and support health workforce in developing countries the full text of target 3.c is: "substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in the least developed countries and small island developing states." target 3.c has only one indicator: indicator 3.c.1 is the health worker density and distribution. there is a joint itu/who initiative "be healthy be mobile" which brings mobile health services to scale.: 7 international health regulations (ihr) capacity, by the type of ihr capacity (%) - sh_ihr_caps - laboratory target 3.d: improve early warning systems for global health risks the full text of target 3.d is: "strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks." indicator 3.d.1: international health regulations (ihr) capacity and health emergency preparedness indicator 3.d.2: percentage of bloodstream infections due to selected antimicrobial resistant organisms. custodian agencies custodian agencies are in charge of reporting on the following indicators: indicators 3.1.1, 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.4.1, 3.4.2, 3.5.2, 3.6.1, 3.8.2, 3.9.1, 3.9.2, 3.9.3, 3.b.3, 3.c.1, 3.d.1 and 3.d.2: world health organization (who). indicator 3.1.2: united nations international children's emergency fund (unicef) indicator 3.3.1: joint united nations programme on hiv/aids indicators 3.3.2, 3.3.3, 3.3.4 and 3.3.5: unicef. indicator 3.5.1: the world health organisation and the united nations office on drugs and crime. indicators 3.7.1 and 3.7.2: united nations department of economic and social affairs. indicators 3.8.1 and 3.b.1: who and unicef. indicator 3.b.2: organisation for economic co-operation and development (oecd). monitoring progress an annual report is prepared by the secretary-general of the united nations evaluating the progress towards the sustainable development goals. a 2018 study in the journal nature found that while "nearly all african countries demonstrated improvements for children under 5 years old for stunting, wasting, and underweight... much, if not all of the continent will fail to meet the sustainable development goal target—to end malnutrition by 2030". challenges main article: sustainable development goals § challenges impact of covid-19 pandemic italian hospital staff of the san salvatore hospital in pesaro, italy, during covid-19 pandemic the covid-19 pandemic is a serious threat to the progress of sdg 3 aimed to ensure healthy lives and well-being for all. as the pandemic spread worldwide, the lockdown had over 70 countries putting a hold on various health services such as child vaccination, family planning, and cancer screening. the pandemic has also led to overloading and overcrowding of health facilities and many people became afraid of visiting for fear of being infected. most non-covid-19 diseases have been either neglected or interrupted and healthcare systems are in turn stretched beyond their capacity and capabilities to provide adequate care. this is a great reverse in decades of improvement and has reiterated the need for governments to prioritize issues of healthy living and well-being and work towards the goal of sdg 3. the governments of countries who already suffer from health workers shortage and other healthcare systems should take advantage of the lessons learnt during this crisis and build up resilience to combat future health pandemics and achieve progress towards universal health coverage. links with other sdgs the targets of sdg 3 link to targets in other goals: for example to some targets of sdg 2, sdg 4, sdg 5, sdg 6 etc.: 1 organizations organizations dedicated to good health and well-being include: the global fund to fight aids joint united nations program on hiv/aids (unaids) world bank world health organization (who) unicef department of economic and social affairs (desa) united nations office on drugs and crime (unodc) organisation for economic co-operation and development (oecd) un women gavi the vaccine alliance vodafone foundation doctors without borders red cross international medical impact partners in health panafricare the global health network