A lot has been discussed recently about a more sustainable future and its vital importance within society. Nevertheless, what is sustainability, and how can we achieve it? Sustainability is a broad term encompassing social, political, environmental, and economic interconnections and integrations to come to fruition 7 . It is the knowledge of sustainability’s promise and capacity for transformation towards an ideal quality of life that confronts and tackles current global challenges such as poverty. This has become of interest to United Nations (UN) members, who want to explore and establish sustainable development goals (SDGs) to achieve this. The 17 sustainable development goals and 169 targets were created in September 2015 at a sustainable development conference held in Rio de Janeiro, with aims to improve factors such as education, health and sanitation to ensure the same standard quality globally, eradicate poverty and hunger and promote world peace by 2030 4 . With just six years to 2030, how far are we achieving these goals? What are the scientific research contributions towards the attainment of these goals?
As it has emerged in biomedical science, it is our core interest and need to keep abreast of goal three of the SDGs, which refers to promoting good health and well-being 11 . According to the 2023 SDGs progress report by the United Nations, we can observe considerable progress towards goal three. For instance, it is reported that among members of the UN, 73% have fought or are working to reduce the mortality rate among children under five, fulfilling objective 3.2. However, among the remaining 27%, approximately 4/5 of the countries are concentrated in the sub-Saharan region, which stands out as one of the regions of extreme poverty globally. Perhaps the possible progress towards improvement would be correlated to goal one, which aims to eradicate poverty and raise the economy of such societies, thus promoting and ensuring improvement in health. Nevertheless, this reality seems distant when looking at the data reports from the UN, which estimate that 575 million people live in precarious situations and that this number will not improve unless governments invest more in social protection programmes for further progress 12 .
Science has revolutionised the world and brought unimaginable benefits to society; its health benefits are no exception. As mentioned, there are still changes that need to occur to ensure the promotion of ideal health and well-being globally. Even so, the substantial assistance scientists can provide in ameliorating healthcare cannot go unnoticed. This can be evidenced, for example, through advances in HIV treatment, which, according to statistics from the United Nations, have reduced approximately half of the deaths related to AIDS (advanced state of HIV) between 2010 and 2021 12 . New HIV treatment, such as retroviral injections, made this reduction possible.
Take Cabenuva as an example, which involves a combination of ART therapy drugs, Integrase inhibitors and NNRTIs that prevent viral replication. 5 . The New England Journal of Medicine has shown this to maintain viral levels at undetectable levels. This is beneficial in the prevention of HIV progression and transmission 9,10 . Despite such benefits, social discrimination and AIDS-related stigma have created barriers to access to treatment. The “bad label” that the name AIDS carries originates from its discovery in the 80s when it was called “gay-related immune disease”, which imposed shame on infected people and has limited their search for treatment, even to this day 6 . To seek progress in ending the AIDS epidemic reported by objective 3.3 of the UN, it will be necessary to impose stricter laws against discrimination, especially within the healthcare sector, and to implement cautious monitoring measures. This will be an arduous and laborious task, considering insufficient and unreliable data on discrimination across countries 2 .
Moreover, access to women's reproductive healthcare has positively increased, which will make it possible for approximately 80% of women to feel satisfied by 2030. The invention of the HPV vaccine is considered one of the revolutionary milestones in advancing female reproductive health. This vaccine helps prevent cervical cancer, which has been common among women and is administered during early adolescence (ages 12-13) as a preventative measure. However, recent data from the United Nations highlights the decline in childhood vaccination, estimating that 21 million children will not receive essential health vaccines in 2022. Despite the HPV vaccine being introduced in 67% of UN member countries as part of their immunisation campaigns, it covers only 15% of the population. Implementing health information systems through technology can be crucial in increasing vaccination coverage 13 . Implementing health information systems through technology can play a pivotal role in increasing vaccination coverage. An article published in 2021 by the British Journal of Medicine has shown the effectiveness of SMS reminder messages in improving vaccination rates in lower to middle-income countries. These quick, direct messages enhance communication between patients and healthcare providers, making access to vaccination information more efficient 3 .
Sustainability is often linked to ecological sustainability, which seeks to guarantee the performance of human activities that respect the limits of the environment. Goal 12 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) considers the importance of sustainable material production, minimising waste, and using eco-friendly, renewable resources. 12 . In the daily operations of biomedical scientists, laboratories frequently use disposable materials, particularly plastics. Research shows that plastic accounts for approximately 30% of medical waste worldwide, with the UK producing 133,000 tonnes annually. This plastic waste in syringes, blood sampling tubes, and gloves significantly contributes to global warming by releasing greenhouse gases. Furthermore, exposure to certain plastics has been linked to cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma 1 . Given these environmental and health concerns, it is crucial to implement measures to reduce plastic use in alignment with Goal 12. This can be done by utilising the three Rs of waste management: reduce, reuse, and recycle. For example, reducing plastic consumption can be achieved by converting its usage to other material sources. In the UK, plastic waste bins have been replaced by paper-based bins. Additionally, biodegradable plastics made from corn are a potential solution, though they may disrupt food supplies 8 .
What can be concluded is that over the next six years, extensive and arduous work will be needed to achieve the SDGs, most of which will come from the government through economic and socio-protective measures. Significant advances have been seen in the healthcare sector, corresponding to SDG 3, where gradual improvement is expected. However, when observing global poverty indices related to SDG 1 and its tendency for non-improvement, this raises concerns about the possibility of it being an unachievable goal for the United Nations by 2030. It requires more difficult measures to implement and change than those for SDG 12.
References
1 Davey, M. (2023). Plastics cause wide-ranging health issues from cancer to birth defects, landmark study finds. The Guardian . https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/29/plastics-cause-wide-ranging-health-issues-from-cancer-to-birth-defects-landmark-study-finds
2 European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. (2024). Evidence brief: Progress towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals related to HIV in the EU/EEA . https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/evidence-brief-progress-towards-reaching-sustainable-development-goals-related
3 Eze, P., Lawani, L. O., & Acharya, Y. (2021). Short message service (SMS) reminders for childhood immunisation in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Global Health , 6 (7), e005035. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005035
4 Imaz, M., & Sheinbaum, C. (2017). Science and technology in the framework of the sustainable development goals. World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development , 14 (1), 2-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/WJSTSD-04-2016-0030
5 International Association of Providers of AIDS Care. (2024). Cabenuva . Retrieved 02/10/2024 from https://www.iapac.org/fact-sheet/cabenuva/
6 King, N. (2012). HIV/AIDS + education: Lessons from the 1980s + the gay male community in the United States. UN Chronicle , 48 (1), 16-17. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.18356/85e9f37b-en
7 Ortúzar, J. d. D. (2019). Sustainable Urban Mobility: What Can Be Done to Achieve It? Journal of the Indian Institute of Science , 99 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s41745-019-00130-y
8 Rizan, C., Mortimer, F., Stancliffe, R., & Bhutta, M. F. (2020). Plastics in healthcare: time for a re-evaluation. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine , 113 (2), 49-53. https://doi.org/10.1177/0141076819890554
9 Skinner, G., & Malebranche, D. (2021, 30th May 2024). Cabenuva for HIV Treatment: What You Need to Know . The Body. Retrieved 02/10/2024 from https://www.thebody.com/health/hiv-cabenuva
10 Toegel, F., Rodewald, A. M., Novak, M. D., Pollock, S., Arellano, M., Leoutsakos, J. M., Holtyn, A. F., & Silverman, K. (2022). Psychosocial Interventions to Promote Undetectable HIV Viral Loads: A Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials. AIDS Behav , 26 (6), 1853-1862. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-021-03534-z
11 United Nations. (2015, 19th October 2023). Sustainable Development Goals - Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages . Retrieved 02/10/2024 from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/health/
12 United Nations. (2023). The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023: Special Edition . https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2023
13 United Nations. (2024). The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024 . https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2024