8.F. Workshop: SDG indicators: country scenarios and the way towards 2030
Authors:   Organised by: EUPHA-PHMR, WHO/Europe,   Chair persons: Heidi Lyshol (Norway), Stefania Davia (Denmark)
Published: October 2023

Background

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a global action plan aimed at achieving a better future for all. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are at the core of this Agenda, balancing the economic, social and ecological dimensions of sustainable development. The 17 SDGs were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a blueprint for reducing inequalities, eliminating extreme poverty, rehabilitating the natural environment, ensuring access to justice for all, improving health and well-being, and building global partnerships supporting sustainable development. From the beginning, data availability was widely discussed. Previous have covered the issue of SDG data gaps; we will concentrate on SDG 3, Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, though there are health-related indicators under other SDGs, e.g. 2.2.2 and 5.2.2.

Developing SDG Indicators

The UN General Assembly adopted the global indicator framework in 2017 with a set of 231 indicators, published in the UN SDG Reports, where countries are grouped according to geography. From the perspective of Europe, this makes sense, as i.e. neglected tropical diseases and births not attended by health personnel are uncommon. Indicators demonstrating social inequalities in health, or risk factors for non-communicable disease, such as insufficient physical activity and low fruit and vegetable consumption, are more relevant and demonstrate persistent threats to population health. In accordance with the UN's original mandate, some countries are therefore developing new local indicators.

Addressing data gaps

In the WHO European Region, the biggest challenge regarding SDG data is time lag. 6 of the 53 Member States (MS) in this region report mortality data from 2017 or earlier, and 39 MS have at least one year of missing mortality data, making it difficult to monitor demographic trends. Until MS are able to report timely and complete data, SDG reporting is unlikely to get better. Often flaws in the underlying health information systems (HISs) are the causes of the gaps. Major barriers to the optimal functioning of HISs are fragmentation of data sources, limited accessibility and unclear rules around use and reuse of data; barriers in the implementation of electronic health records; governance issues related to unclear responsibilities, including funding gaps and weak collaboration; legal gaps and misinterpretation of laws surrounding data protection, and limited number of skilled staff for implementation.

These three abstracts show very different scenarios from three countries that illustrates how diverse the European Region is and how differently the countries work towards the SDGs, demonstrating what is currently happening in Europe regarding defining, collecting and reporting SDG indicators. Finally, WHO along with MS will offer some ideas for the best ways to optimize the years until the 2030 SDG achievement deadline.

Key messages

• Examples from three countries demonstrate challenges connected to SDG monitoring, including data gaps and reporting issues.

• Flaws in HISs can lead to data gaps; WHO proposes some ways to alleviate this.