A remarkable duality defined the global health landscape in 2025, a year that simultaneously witnessed historic triumphs over infectious diseases and the deepening of crises that threaten to unravel decades of progress. While nations celebrated unprecedented victories in public health, the very systems supporting these achievements were strained to their limits by relentless conflicts, severe funding cuts, and the escalating impacts of climate shocks. This juxtaposition of success and stress created a precarious balance, presenting a world where science-based, cooperative efforts yielded landmark results, yet those same gains remained profoundly fragile. The central challenge that emerged was whether the global community could sustain the momentum and financial investment needed to secure this progress or if it was standing at a tipping point, risking a reversal of its hard-won victories. The events of the year underscored that while the tools and knowledge to build a healthier world exist, the political will and resources to deploy them equitably are far from guaranteed.
A Year of Historic Victories
Eliminating Diseases and Neglected Threats
The year 2025 was marked by a series of extraordinary public health achievements, showcasing what is possible when nations commit to targeted health initiatives. A standout success was the Maldives becoming the first country in the world to be recognized for the “triple elimination” of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B, a comprehensive milestone in maternal and child health. In a similarly significant development, Brazil, the most populous nation in the Americas, successfully eliminated the mother-to-child transmission of HIV, demonstrating that such goals are attainable even on a massive scale. The campaign against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) also saw remarkable gains. Burundi, Egypt, and Fiji were all declared successful in eliminating trachoma, a leading infectious cause of blindness. In parallel, Guinea and Kenya managed to eliminate sleeping sickness, and Niger became the first country on the African continent to eliminate river blindness. These victories are part of a broader positive trend, as the number of individuals requiring treatment for an NTD has declined by nearly one-third since 2010.
These individual country-level successes represented more than isolated wins; they served as powerful proof that long-entrenched diseases can be defeated through sustained, science-based strategies. The elimination of these diseases was not accidental but the result of decades of international cooperation, robust surveillance systems, community engagement, and unwavering political commitment. For example, the fight against NTDs has relied on mass drug administration programs, improved sanitation, and vector control, all coordinated through global partnerships. The achievements in eliminating mother-to-child transmission of diseases like HIV hinged on expanding access to testing, antiretroviral therapies for pregnant women, and safe birthing practices. These accomplishments underscore a fundamental principle: when evidence-based solutions are combined with sufficient resources and collaborative platforms, even the most challenging public health threats can be overcome. They provide a blueprint for other nations and reinforce the idea that investing in strong, resilient health systems yields dividends that extend far beyond a single disease.
Advances in Disease Control and Global Cooperation
Progress extended to two of the world’s most formidable infectious diseases: tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. Deaths from TB continued their downward trajectory, with the African and European regions recording particularly impressive reductions of over 45 percent in the last decade. However, this positive trend was tempered by the stark reality that the disease still claimed an estimated 1.2 million lives in 2024, a grim reminder of the persistent challenges posed by co-factors such as HIV, undernutrition, and poverty. In the realm of malaria control, 2025 brought significant victories as Georgia, Suriname, and Timor-Leste were officially certified as malaria-free. A major strategic advance was the introduction of malaria vaccines in seven additional African countries. The deployment of these vaccines, combined with the use of newer, more effective tools like improved mosquito nets, was instrumental in preventing an estimated 170 million cases and one million deaths in 2024 alone, marking a pivotal moment in the global effort to eradicate the disease.
Beyond disease-specific victories, 2025 was a landmark year for strengthening the architecture of global health security and cooperation. In a crucial step toward preventing future pandemics, countries formally adopted the world’s first Pandemic Agreement, a treaty designed to ensure a more cohesive and equitable global response to health emergencies. In parallel, they strengthened the International Health Regulations (IHR), reinforcing the legal framework for international health surveillance and response. Together, these initiatives aim to prevent a repeat of the fragmented and unequal response seen in past crises. On another front, world leaders endorsed a historic political declaration focused on tackling noncommunicable diseases and promoting mental health, signaling a growing recognition of these critical health burdens. The World Health Organization (WHO) supported these policy shifts by issuing new evidence-based guidance across a wide spectrum of health issues, including maternal care, meningitis, the management of diabetes in pregnancy, and the development of child-friendly cancer medicines.
The Frailty of Progress
Stubborn Inequities and Gaps in Care
Despite the celebratory headlines, a more troubling narrative of persistent inequity and systemic failure unfolded in parallel. A stark indicator of this was the fact that an estimated 20 million children missed out on essential, life-saving vaccines in 2025. This significant gap in immunization coverage was not due to a lack of effective vaccines but was driven by a confluence of destabilizing factors. Ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises disrupted routine health services and made it impossible to reach children in affected areas. Persistent supply chain issues created bottlenecks in the delivery of vaccines and other medical supplies. Compounding these logistical challenges was the pervasive spread of misinformation and disinformation, which eroded public trust in vaccination and fueled vaccine hesitancy in many communities. This reality highlights the fragility of even the most basic public health programs and shows how easily hard-won gains in disease prevention can be compromised when foundational systems are weak or under attack.
The widening gaps in care were further evidenced by the faltering progress in reducing maternal and child mortality. The rates of decline were not sufficient to meet established global targets, a failure that translates into preventable deaths of mothers and newborns. This stagnation underscores a chronic underinvestment in primary healthcare infrastructure, particularly in services that ensure safe childbirth and provide comprehensive prenatal and postnatal care. The lack of accessible, quality healthcare for women and children is a critical weakness in the global health system, revealing deep-seated inequities where a person’s chance of survival is still largely determined by where they are born. This failure to protect the most vulnerable populations is not just a statistical shortcoming but a profound moral challenge, indicating that the benefits of medical advancement are not being distributed equitably. Without a renewed and urgent focus on strengthening primary care, the goal of ensuring healthy lives for all will remain elusive.
The Compounding Crises of Funding and Conflict
The challenges of 2025 were severely exacerbated by acute funding pressures that rippled across the global health landscape. The article explicitly states that funding cuts caused direct and immediate disruptions to a wide range of critical health services. Programs focused on maternal care, routine vaccination campaigns, HIV prevention initiatives, and essential disease surveillance systems all faced shortfalls. This reduction in financing prompted a stark warning from the WHO that decades of hard-won public health gains were at serious risk of being reversed. When disease surveillance is weakened, the world becomes more vulnerable to outbreaks. When vaccination programs are curtailed, preventable diseases resurge. When HIV prevention is underfunded, infection rates can climb again. This financial instability revealed the precarious foundation upon which much of global health progress is built, demonstrating that sustained investment is not a luxury but a prerequisite for maintaining public health security and protecting human lives.
Amid these mounting financial pressures, the WHO maintained a robust crisis response operation, providing essential support to 79 countries and territories facing acute health emergencies. The scale of this work was immense, spanning the conflict zones in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine, as well as regions grappling with climate-related disasters and disease outbreaks. The organization’s efforts were multifaceted, involving the delivery of emergency medical support, the containment of infectious disease outbreaks, and the supply of vital medicines and equipment. A critical component of this response was assisting in keeping hospitals operational under extreme duress and supporting vaccination campaigns to prevent secondary health crises. All of this emergency work had to be conducted while simultaneously ensuring the continuity of regular health services for chronic conditions and routine needs. This dual burden highlighted the immense strain on global health institutions, which were forced to manage escalating emergencies with dwindling resources, further underscoring the fragility of the entire system.
Forging a Resilient Future
The year 2025 ultimately stood as a crucial juncture for global health, a period that laid bare both the remarkable potential of human ingenuity and the profound vulnerabilities of the systems designed to protect it. In retrospect, the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement and the strengthened International Health Regulations were seen as encouraging signs of a renewed global commitment to preparedness, born from the hard lessons of past crises. These frameworks represented a collective acknowledgment that health security is indivisible and requires a foundation of solidarity. The stark contrast between historic achievements and concurrent systemic failures underscored a timeless principle first established in 1948: that the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental right for every human being, not a privilege reserved for a fortunate few. The path forward was illuminated by the successes of the year, which proved that a unified commitment to science, innovative solutions, and unwavering solidarity made it possible to build a healthier, safer, and more hopeful future for everyone.
