WHO Reports Major Health Gains in 2025 Despite Funding Challenges

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its latest Results Report, showing clear improvements in global health during 2025, even as funding cuts affected both the organization and the wider health sector.

Published at a critical time for worldwide health, the report shows that WHO made the biggest difference in areas where its technical expertise and unique strengths were used most effectively.

The report reveals major progress across all three of WHO’s “Triple Billion” goals under its Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13), which covers 2019 to 2025.

Key findings include:
– An estimated 567 million more people had access to essential health services without facing financial ruin in 2025, compared with 2018 levels. That is an increase of 136 million since 2024.
– An estimated 698 million more people were better protected from health emergencies in 2025, compared with 2018 levels. That is an increase of 61 million since 2024.
– An estimated 1.75 billion more people were living healthier lives in 2025, compared with 2018 levels. That is an increase of 300 million since 2024.

However, the report warns that many important goals remain unfinished, and the world is not on track to meet the health-related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Still, this final report under GPW13 offers clear proof that a strong and well-funded WHO is valuable. It reflects ongoing teamwork between WHO and its member countries at the global, regional, and local levels.

“The Results Report 2025 shows that with support from WHO and partners, countries have delivered tangible benefits for millions of people,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “At the same time, these gains cannot be taken for granted. Protecting and expanding them will require sustained support and investment, so that together we can continue advancing the vision set out in WHO’s Constitution: the highest attainable standard of health as a right for all.”

The WHO Results Report comes out every year before the World Health Assembly. It measures progress and reviews what has been achieved and what challenges remain in carrying out WHO’s program budget.

Compared with earlier editions, the 2025 report uses stronger evidence and clearer priorities at the country, regional, and global levels. It gives a more data-driven picture of where progress has happened and where more work is needed. The full report will be presented by the Director-General at the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly, which runs from May 18 to 23, 2026.

Significant impact and areas needing improvement

This latest report shows meaningful, but incomplete, progress across 46 outcome indicators and 121 output indicators. These focus specifically on how the WHO Secretariat performed. The indicators align with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and show shared responsibility between WHO and its member countries.

Overall, about half of the output indicators were not met, especially in areas prone to emergencies or with limited resources. For all three goals, money problems and WHO’s restructuring process led to several immediate issues. These included fewer staff to deliver services, less technical support, and slower program implementation.

Progress toward universal health coverage came from expanding services for communicable diseases like HIV and tuberculosis. It also came from preventing bacterial diseases through better sanitation and a growing health workforce. However, gaps remain in areas such as diabetes care, measles tracking, and financial protection.

Progress on protection from health emergencies reflects advances in pandemic readiness, early warning systems, and prevention and response abilities. These gains were helped in part by the adopted Pandemic Agreement and updated International Health Regulations. Areas that need complex work—such as disease detection, emergency response, and polio eradication—remain more challenging. This reflects limits in country capacity, funding, and operations.

Progress toward better health and well-being came from improvements in access to clean household energy, water, sanitation, and hygiene. It also came from reductions in air pollution, tobacco use, and alcohol consumption. WHO’s global guidance, technical tools, standards, and networks played a big role in supporting these achievements.

Examples of achievements in 2025

The Results Report highlights several areas where WHO’s technical leadership and ability to bring people together made a clear difference:

– Antimicrobial resistance: Expanded tracking and evidence gathering through the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) to help guide policy decisions.
– Mental health: Strengthened emergency mental health and psychosocial support systems, raising country coverage from 28% to 48%.
– HPV vaccination: Expanded vaccine coverage with simpler single-dose schedules, raising global coverage from 17% in 2019 to 31% in 2024.
– Pandemic preparedness: Adoption of the Pandemic Agreement and changes to the International Health Regulations (IHR) to better prepare the world for future pandemics.
– Humanitarian response: Responded to 66 emergencies across 88 countries in 2025, including delivering 33 million medical consultations through health partners in Gaza.
– Environmental health: Updated the global air pollution roadmap to cut deaths from poor air quality by 50% by 2040.
– One Health: Strengthened high-level engagement and teamwork across different sectors through the Quadripartite partnership, to better protect people, animals, and the planet from future health crises.

Looking ahead

The report notes that a large share of WHO’s funding remains tied to specific topics. This continues to limit how the organization can spend money according to its own priorities.

As the global financial situation becomes tighter, steady and flexible funding will be essential to protect health gains, reduce ongoing inequalities, and allow WHO to carry out its mission—especially in countries and communities that need it most—for a healthier, safer, and fairer world for all.

Editor’s note

Under GPW13, WHO’s Triple Billion targets aimed to ensure that, by the end of 2025 compared with 2018 levels, one billion more people benefit from universal health coverage; one billion more people are better protected from health emergencies; and one billion more people enjoy better health and well-being.