Keywords

There is a consensus that health is a fundamental human right. The extent of the countries seeking to improve the health conditions of their people is one of the indications of sustainable development. Poor health systems jeopardise a country’s citizens’ rights, hinder their involvement in educational programs, limit their ability to participate in economic activities and engage in meaningful work fully and ultimately raise poverty regardless of gender. The current state of health is concerning; women all over the world continue to face barriers to general and reproductive healthcare, billions of people lack access to important medicines, hundreds of millions of adults and children lack access to safe drinking water, and many suffer from malnutrition (Filho et al. 2019). Furthermore 2020 demonstrated to the world how infectious diseases might spread from a small group of people to a health issue of international significance in a matter of days. Infectious diseases’ global effect has steadily declined since 2000, yet they were still responsible for more than 10.2 million fatalities in 2019, accounting for 18% of all deaths. Investments in the diagnosis, treatment and control of major infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis (TB), as well as child and maternal problems, have had positive effects over the past 20 years, with global declines in their prevalence, incidence and rates. However, in 2019, these diseases remain among the top 10 causes of mortality in low-income countries (LICs) (World Health Organization 2021a, b).

One of the primary aims of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) principles is to create healthy living conditions and ensure well-being at every stage of human life. Despite the significant development of technology in health, the impact of which will be felt globally in all areas of life, various health problems may cause permanent or temporary damage to people, which dramatically affects global functioning. To overcome these problems, the main principles to be followed are to focus on more efficient financing of health systems, improving sanitation and hygiene and providing greater access to doctors (United Nations 2021a, b, c, d).

SDG-3 seeks to “make sure healthy lifestyles and promote well–being for every generation”. Other than the millennium development goals (MDGs), however, SDG-3 looks at health and well-being in a broader sense by looking beyond a narrow range of disorders (Seidman 2017). According to SDG-3 (Good Health and Well-Being), ensuring health and well-being across all generations is crucial for sustainable development, and only rigorous and continuing healthcare monitoring will be able to do this (Papa et al. 2018). SDG-3 also asks for greater research and innovation, increased healthcare costs and stronger ability in all nations to reduce and manage health risks (UN Office for Outer Space Affairs 2021). The SDG-3’s main objective is to prevent 40% of premature deaths in each nation (i.e. at 2010 mortality rates, deaths before the age of 70 years would be witnessed in the 2030 population) and to enhance healthcare for all ages. To strengthen this main objective, four sub-objectives have been targeted, such as avoiding two-thirds of child and maternal deaths; preventing two-thirds of deaths caused by tuberculosis, HIV and malaria; refraining one-third of premature deaths caused by non-infectious diseases; and preventing one-third of deaths caused by other causes (other infectious diseases, malnutrition and injuries) (Alleyne, et al. 2015). Figure 5.1 demonstrates the targets set by the UN in the field of health under the name SDG-3.

Fig. 5.1
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Targets of SDG-3 good health and well-being. (United Nations 2021a, b, c, d)

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Health is a fundamental human right and an important measure of long-term growth. Poor health jeopardises children’s rights to education, limits economic prospects for men and women and fosters poverty around the world (SDG Compass 2021). In addition to disrupting the well-being of the individual, diseases harm the resources of the family and society and reduce the potential of people. The health of each individual and society plays a key role in long-term development. Avoiding diseases is important for survival, promoting wealth and economic growth (United Nations 2021a, b, c, d). Building thriving communities requires ensuring healthy lives and fostering well-being (United Nations 2021a, b, c, d). The link between health and well-being, which is one of the drivers of human capital, and financial growth was studied from 1991 to 2014 in the following high-income nations (Luxemburg, Israel, Australia, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden, Portugal and Poland). According to the findings of the research, health factors have a long-term impact on financial sub-variables. On the other hand, income has no direct impact on the health variable. However, through financial sub-variables, the income factor indirectly impacts the health variable (Kuloglu and Ecevit 2017).

SDG-3 is viewed in conjunction with SDG-1 No Poverty, SDG-14 Life Below Water and SDG-15 Life on Land as a direct outcome of progress towards the other objectives in terms of social and environmental benefits. They are also important since regressing these goals restricts and limits the human and natural resources needed to maintain a stable global system (Cernev and Fenner 2019). According to WHO (World Health Organization 2021a, b), several factors influence a person’s health, including lifestyle, financial position, social status, available healthcare services and facilities, degree of education, nutritional access, communal life and genetic composition. Understanding health via these variables can aid in predicting medical status using factors that are measured, evaluated and compared across groups. Individual and community health can be improved through specific treatments. This is inextricably connected to SDG 3.4, which specifies the goal of reducing early death due to non-communicable illnesses (NCDs) (Sharma-Brymer and Brymer 2020). Illnesses are likely to hinder one’s ability to work, which in turn could create financial disadvantages or worsen pre-existing ones. Individuals who create economic income by working for themselves can avoid poverty. Children without any disease are more likely to learn, and at the same time, healthy adults are more likely to generate added value and generate income (Frenk and de Ferranti 2012).

The connection between economic development and health outcomes is a significant avenue of research in development economics. The relationship between income levels and health improvements is widely documented in this body of research (Vu 2020). Each year, the County Health Rankings provide a score to each county in the USA based on its health results. Poor counties are said to perform worse than wealthy counties. According to the study’s findings, more affluent areas fared better rankings (McCullough and Leider 2017). Significant progress has been made against primary causes of illness and mortality. Life expectancy has risen substantially; maternal and infant mortality rates at birth fell, malaria-related deaths fell in half, and the HIV epidemic changed.

The 2030 agenda recognises the value of health in the path of sustainable development and reflects the interconnectedness and complexity between them. It takes these emerging challenges into account; rising social and economic inequality, increasing urbanisation, climate and environmental risks, the continuing burden of communicable diseases and HIV and NCDs are considered to pose new concerns (UNDP 2021). The implementation of SDG-3 “Health and Well-Being” includes studies on health and the biomedical field together. It also examines its relations with civil society (Guégan, et al. 2018). Health coverage needs to be universalised for SDG-3’s goal of reducing inequality and eradicating poverty. For example, antimicrobial resistance is one of the global health priorities not directly mentioned in the SDGs. The gap between and even within countries is wide in advances. There is a 31-year difference in life expectancy between countries with the shortest life expectancy and the countries with the longest life expectancy. While there are countries that have made significant progress, national averages hide that many countries lag. Addressing inequities and promoting good health for all requires multi-sectoral, rights-based and gender-sensitive methods (UNDP 2021).

Numerous aspects require significant consideration regarding the future of good health and well-being. Initially, maternal mortality, one of the targets identified by the UN, is considered to be an important criterion. Comprehensive cross-sectional research reports that there have been great reductions in global maternal mortality and a substantial increase in the ratio of births under healthcare services such as hospitals (Souza et al. 2013). Furthermore, the maternal severity index (MSI) can be used to assess whether the performance of health facilities is sufficient with regard to their ability to care for pregnant women and deal with possible complications. However, it is also noted to reduce deaths during childbirth, global coverage of vital treatments must be accompanied by complete emergency care.

Another critical factor that determines an individual’s well-being is mental health. Certain complications come across when seeking and administering mental healthcare. The accessibility to mental healthcare is among the greatest of these challenges. Financial resources are vital for most, if not all, healthcare facilities to provide for those in need. Comprehensive research by the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that, on a global scale, mental health makes up for less than 2% of the total government health expenditure.

Furthermore, a great gap between various regions still exists, showing that there is a great lack of funding for those on the lower end. The findings above indicate a positive relationship between income and accessibility to mental health services. This means that individuals in lower-income regions and countries have less access due to certain variables, including funding, mental health workforce and costs (World Health Organization 2018). Another identified factor that affects the accessibility of mental healthcare is the stigma around mental illnesses and treatments. Evidence demonstrates that around one-third of the global population suffers from various mental illnesses. Many of these individuals do not receive any treatment, which holds even for countries that have adequate resources (Thornicroft 2011). Additionally, men have been reported to be less likely to seek treatment or help regarding mental health (Terlizzi and Zablotsky 2020), which can be partially explained by the worldwide masculine norms (Chatmon 2020), indicating that stigma regarding mental health might have more severe results for males. There are various governmental programs utilised to decrease the stigma that surrounds mental health. For instance, the UK’s Time to Change campaign has been reported to be successful as it was related to increased help-seeking and comfort in disclosing mental health issues (Henderson et al. 2018). However, there have been suggestions to change into alternative frameworks regarding these policies, campaigns or programs to increase their comprehensiveness and efficiency (Stangl et al. 2019).

Tracking and preventing the spread of infectious diseases is another great concern that needs to be addressed to achieve SDG-3. That is to make sure that all individuals of the whole generation have healthy lives and well-being is promoted. Although it is not exhaustive, a list of diseases of major concern has been made. These include HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and more. Additionally, the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which has had devastating effects on numerous aspects of society, is a great example that further underlines the importance of precautions and measures regarding infectious diseases. For instance, studies indicate that it has reduced life expectancy, both directly by fatal infections and indirectly, through unemployment that is due to measures taken to stop the spreading of the virus, most notably lockdowns (Bianchi, et al. 2020). Furthermore, it has been reported that it has disrupted essential health services globally (World Health Organization 2021a, b). Thus, it’s a major disruption to the progress made regarding SDG-3, if not a great setback. This issue can be addressed by using personal, mobile and wearable technological devices that can track and report vital health information. These data can be delivered to the corresponding healthcare facilities (Savelyeva et al. 2019). Additionally, the processing and gathering of this data could be facilitated by using emerging technologies such as AI, big data and cloud computing. These technologies are suggested as highly efficient solutions to the points mentioned earlier.

5.1 Companies and Use Cases

Table 5.1 presents the business models of 55 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-3. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.Footnote 1

Table 5.1 Companies and use cases in SDG-3
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