Health advances marked 2025 as wars and funding cuts strained systems

This article is published in association with United Nations.

From eliminating deadly infections to expanding access to lifesaving vaccines, 2025 delivered meaningful progress for global health, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), offering cautious optimism at the close of a year marked by both breakthroughs and strain.

Even as funding cuts, conflict and climate shocks strained health systems worldwide – disrupting essential services in many countries – governments and partners still recorded notable gains in disease control, prevention and preparedness.

The UN health agency says the mixed picture of progress and pressure in 2025 underscores both what is possible through evidence-based cooperation and what is at risk if momentum and financing are not sustained.

Victories for disease control

Several countries reached historic milestones in eliminating infectious diseases.

Maldives became the first country to achieve “triple elimination” of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B, while Brazil eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV, making it the most populous country in the Americas to reach that goal.

Progress was also recorded against neglected tropical diseases. Burundi, Egypt and Fiji eliminated trachoma; Guinea and Kenya eliminated sleeping sickness; and Niger became the first African country to eliminate river blindness. Since 2010, the number of people needing treatment for a neglected tropical disease has fallen by nearly one-third.

Deaths from tuberculosis (TB) continued to decline, particularly in Africa and Europe, which recorded reductions of more than 45 per cent over the past decade. Still, the disease claimed an estimated 1.2 million lives in 2024, underscoring persistent risks linked to HIV, undernutrition and other factors.

Malaria control also advanced. Georgia, Suriname and Timor-Leste were certified malaria-free, while seven additional African countries introduced malaria vaccines in 2025. Combined with newer tools, including improved mosquito nets, these efforts helped prevent an estimated 170 million cases and one million deaths in 2024.

© UNICEF/Rabik Upadhayay

A doctor examines a newborn at a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Global health cooperation

Beyond disease-specific gains, 2025 also marked important advances in global health cooperation.

Countries adopted the world’s first Pandemic Agreement and strengthened the International Health Regulations (IHR), laying the groundwork for faster, fairer responses to future health emergencies.

World leaders endorsed a historic political declaration on noncommunicable diseases and mental health. New evidence-based guidance were also issued covering areas from maternal care and meningitis to diabetes in pregnancy and child-friendly cancer medicines.

Healthier lives, uneven progress

WHO’s World Health Statistics 2025 report found that 1.4 billion more people are living healthier lives, driven by reduced tobacco use, cleaner air and improved water and sanitation.

Immunization remained central to these gains. Global vaccination efforts have cut measles deaths by 88 per cent since 2000, saving nearly 59 million lives. In 2025, several countries expanded vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV), bringing the world closer to eliminating cervical cancer.

Yet challenges persist. Twenty million children missed essential vaccines due to conflict, supply disruptions and misinformation. Maternal and child deaths are also not declining fast enough to meet global targets, underscoring the need for greater investments in primary healthcare and safe childbirth programmes.

© UNICEF/Ahmed Mohamdeen Elfatih

Children and adults suffering from cholera receive treatment at an isolation centre in a hospital in Khartoum, Sudan.

Funding pressures, crisis response

Funding cuts in 2025 disrupted services including maternal care, vaccination, HIV prevention and disease surveillance, with WHO warning that reduced financing could reverse hard-won gains.

Despite these pressures, WHO supported rapid responses to health emergencies and crises across 79 countries and territories, including Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, providing emergency medical support and helping contain outbreaks.

It delivered medicines, helped keep hospitals open, joined vaccination campaigns and made sure people could still access regular health services – “because babies still need to be born, heart attacks still need to be avoided, and diabetes still needs to be treated, even during an emergency.”

Looking ahead

As it looks to 2026, WHO points to the adoption of the first Pandemic Agreement and strengthened International Health Regulations as signs of renewed global commitment to preparedness.

It emphasizes that it remains guided by the principle set out at its founding in 1948: that the highest attainable standard of health should be a right for everyone, not a privilege for a few.

“Together,” WHO stresses, “with science, solutions and solidarity, we can build a healthier, safer, and more hopeful future for everyone.”

© UNICEF/Bashir Ahmed Sujan

A baby is held by its mother and entertained by its grandfather at a community clinic in northern Bangladesh.