A Brief Analysis of SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-being – and its Synergies and Trade-offs with the other Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), proposed by the United Nations in 2015, give countries around the world much to work on until 2030. The third SDG – Good health and well-being – surely cannot be pursued in isolation. Far from being a silo, it has strong synergies with other SDGs, notably Gender Equality (SDG 5), No Poverty (SDG 1), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10) & Clean water and sanitation (SDG 6). Quite counter-intuitively, it has trade-offs with SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). This is a commentary on these synergies and trade-offs, which looks at Good Health and Well-being as an overarching goal on any government’s agenda, impacting and being impacted, to different degrees, by the other goals.