As 2023 has come to an end, we are pleased to present this biennial report for 2022–2023 under the Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW 13). The World Health Organization remains steadfast in its commitment to achieving measurable impact in countries, central to its mission of promoting health, ensuring global safety, and serving vulnerable populations.

GPW 13 is pursuing ambitious triple billion targets encompassing (a) healthier populations, (b) universal health coverage, and (c) health emergencies. Together, these goals aspire to ensure that more people enjoy improved health and well-being, benefit from universal health coverage, and are better shielded from health emergencies – aligning seamlessly with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). GPW 13 delineates WHO’s strategies to achieve these goals, emphasizing global health leadership, providing global public health goods and technical products, and comprehensive country support.

The impact of the triple billion targets is monumental, presenting a unified approach to advancing health-related SDGs and contributing significantly to extending healthy life expectancy. However, despite promising progress towards healthier populations, this report indicates that our current trajectory is insufficient to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. We have achieved only one quarter of the milestones necessary to achieve the target of 1 billion healthier people.