More mothers and children under five are surviving, but progress is "uneven across regions and countries, leaving significant gaps", the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirmed today, July 6, launching the final Millennium Development Goals Report (2015). Child under-five mortality has been cut in half since 1990 (reduced from 90 to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births) and maternal mortality has been reduced 45 percent -- with much of the reduction occuring since 2000.

According to the UN press release:

Targeted investments in fighting diseases, such as HIV/AIDs and malaria, have brought unprecedented results. Over 6.2 million malaria deaths were averted between 2000 and 2015, while tuberculosis prevention, diagnosis and treatment interventions saved an estimated 37 million lives between 2000 and 2013.

Worldwide, 2.1 billion have gained access to improved sanitation and the proportion of people practicing open defecation has fallen almost by half since 1990.

View the MDGs Progress Chart (PDF)View the MDGs 2015 Progress Chart (PDF)

The MDGs will serve as the jumping off point for the new sustainable development agenda to be adopted this year. Said Ki-moon today:

The emerging post-2015 development agenda, including the set of Sustainable Development Goals, strives to build on our successes and put all countries, together, firmly on track towards a more prosperous, sustainable and equitable world.

But, without investments in resilient health systems and "next-generation" health information systems, health gains won't be sustainable, blogged Jonathan Jay (MSH) and Ariella Rojhani (NCD Alliance) on Devex (prior to the launch of the report):

Indeed, the story of health in the MDG era is one of dramatic improvements around specific priorities that failed to produce strong, resilient health systems.

For post-2015 priorities like UHC and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), fragmentation will not suffice: Only strong, integrated health systems can deliver meaningful progress. They require accurate, accessible data on diverse health indicators and social determinants which can be disaggregated across many population groups to detect inequity. That is, they require next-generation health information systems.

Jay and Rojhani continue:

By 2030, all people should live in countries where better health is a comprehensive agenda. Health promotion and disease prevention must be hardwired into every health system, along with quality, affordable health services across the continuum of care, with accountability at every level.

Read the UN's final MDGs report (PDF)

Read Jay and Rojhani's commentary, "How Reliable Data Can Secure a Healthy Future"