Significant global health gains have been achieved in recent years. Major medical advances against killer diseases are continuously being achieved and new technologies offer greater regional and global infectious disease surveillance, to predict and prevent future infectious diseases threats.

However, people continue to face a complex mix of interconnected threats to their health and well-being. Infectious disease remains a major public health concern around the world. The changing health landscape and the threat multipliers of climate change on a global population that has changing demographics, aging and more dependant populations, face a higher rate of non-communicable disease and increased exposure to environmental pollution and toxins. Persistent threats also continue in ensuring safe access to water and safely managed sanitation and humanity is more at risk than ever of a global pandemic and epidemic. These issues collide with contexts where more than a billion people live in places where protracted crises and weak health services leave them without access to basic care and fostering environments where many other forgotten diseases emerge. Increasingly, mental health issues (in particular depression and anxiety disorders) rank highly in the global burden of disease, with social and digital isolation contributing to loneliness becoming a public health issue that is projected to reach epidemic proportions.

Most countries across the globe are facing a formidable challenge to manage the rapidly increasing cost of health care. A projected significant shortage of health workers – estimated to reach 18 million by 2030 – will affect the delivery of health services at all levels.

Our goal is that all citizens have safe, and equitable access to health, water, sanitation, and care services, in all countries. 

We will increase our work in community health and increase the number of Red Cross and Red Crescent community health workers, as well as supporting National Societies utilising their auxiliary role to deploy RCRC volunteers into health workforce strategies.

We will expand integrated health and care and water, sanitation and hygiene programmes to ‘last mile’ settings in order to meet the needs of vulnerable or marginalized groups in all countries where formal health systems are not able to meet the needs of their populations. We will also significantly invest in epidemic and pandemic preparedness.

We will work with partners to ensure that people have access the health care they need at a price they can afford.