Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed significant global health improvements in its Results Report 2025, despite facing financial constraints and organizational changes. "The Results Report 2025 shows that with support from WHO and partners, countries have delivered tangible benefits for millions of people," stated WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. However, he cautioned that these accomplishments should not be assumed secure.
According to Azerbaijan State News Agency, the report, published ahead of the forthcoming World Health Assembly, indicates advancements in three key areas: increasing access to essential health services, enhancing protection against health emergencies, and improving general wellbeing. Despite these achievements, around half of WHO's output targets were not met due to financial pressures and internal restructuring, and the global community remains behind in achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
While WHO did not fully achieve its 'Triple Billion' targets, which sought to benefit an additional billion people in each of the three focus areas by the end of 2025 compared to 2018, the results were still noteworthy. In 2025, an estimated 567 million more individuals gained access to essential health services, reflecting an increase of 136 million from the previous year. Additionally, approximately 698 million people received better protection from health emergencies, marking a 61 million rise compared to 2024, and 1.75 billion more people were living healthier lives, up by 300 million from the previous year.
The progress towards universal health coverage was driven by expanded services for communicable diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis, improved sanitation, and an expanding healthcare workforce. However, challenges remain in areas like diabetes management, measles surveillance, and financial protection. Improvements in emergency preparedness were partly attributed to the newly adopted Pandemic Agreement and revised International Health Regulations.
WHO responded to 66 emergencies across 88 countries in 2025, including providing 33 million medical consultations through health partners in Gaza. Other areas, such as disease detection, emergency response, and polio eradication, continue to face difficulties due to limitations in country capacity, financing, and operations.
Moreover, WHO enhanced emergency mental health and psychosocial support systems, raising country coverage from 28 percent to 48 percent. HPV vaccine coverage increased from 17 percent in 2019 to 31 percent in 2024 through simplified single-dose schedules. A new global air pollution roadmap aims to reduce related deaths by 50 percent by 2040.
Nevertheless, the report highlights that reduced staffing capacity, limited technical support, and slower program implementation were among the immediate impacts. A significant portion of WHO's budget is still allocated to specific thematic areas, restricting strategic flexibility.
These findings will be presented by Tedros at the 79th World Health Assembly, scheduled from 18 to 23 May 2026 in Geneva. "Protecting and expanding [these gains] 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," Tedros emphasized.