By Jackson White
With the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals almost upon us, we continue our look at the progress thus far.
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
The right of every child to be able to complete a full course of primary schooling is seen as a critical goal in the battle to eradicate extreme poverty, and some impressive gains have been made since the ratification of the Millennium goals. Worldwide, the number of primary school aged children out of school has fallen almost by half, from 102 million in 2000 to 57 million in 2011. However, the rate of this fall has slowed significantly, with the number of out of school children dropping by just 3 million between 2008 and 2011. Primary education rates in developing regions are of particular importance, and while improvements have been seen, there still remains a significant discrepancy between the developing and the developed world. The adjusted net enrolment rate (ANER) of developed regions rose from 83 per cent in 2000 to 90 per cent in 2011 (The ANER in developed regions rose one percent to 97 over the same period). Sub-Saharan African remains the region of most concern, with more than half the world’s out-of-school children located there; despite the ANER rising from 60 to 77 per cent between 2000-2011 in this region, the number of children out of school has actually risen with the growing population.
The slowing rate of improvement in this area means that currently we are not on track to meet this goal by 2015.
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
The Millennium goals emphasise the importance of halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, along with providing universal treatment for the disease for those who need it. Progress in these areas has been heartening but not ideal. The number of people newly infected with HIV worldwide has dropped 21 per cent from 2001 to 2011. Despite this, around 2.5 million people are still newly infected with HIV annually. Again, sub-Saharan Africa is the area of most concern, with a majority of new cases (1.8 million) found there. The scaling up of anti-retroviral therapies has had an important impact, with a drop of 25 percent in the deaths due to AIDS since 2005, down to an estimated 1.7 million people per year. We are, however, far short of the Millennium Goal of universal access to anti-retrovirals by 2010; in 2011, 45 per cent of people in developing countries in need of treatment did not receive it.
An estimated 1.1 million deaths due to malaria have been averted since 2000, yet the yearly death toll remains high at around 660,000. The majority of these deaths are in children under five. Growing resistance to anti-malarial drugs is a serious concern, and it is suggested that a renewed commitment is required to maintain the gains made over the past decade.
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Deforestation continues at an alarming pace, particularly in South America and Africa, and the rate of CO2 emissions has risen by 46 per cent since 1990, coupled with a continued fall in global biodiversity. This all paints a grim picture, however there has been good progress made towards this goal in areas of particular importance to health. More than 2.1 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water supplies since 1990, which actually exceeds the Millennium goal. Additionally, 1.9 billion people have gained access to improved sanitation facilities over the same period. Another billion is needed to reach the Millennium goal by 2015, which looks unlikely.
For more information please see the UN’s Millennium Development Goals Report 2013, available online at: http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2013/English2013.pdf
Image: ‘Schools in Kabkabiya’ by UNAMID available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/unamid-photo/8267195730/ under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0. Full terms at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/