Day 3 – SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

Have you observed that we have more dialysis centers now? More barangay health stations? More medicine outlets? But if you don’t have enough money, these services remain out of reach —available for a few, but not extended to many. Health is one of the first things we notice only when it begins to fail. In a country where every second should count, calling emergency means hope. A family once dialed 911 hoping to hear the sound of help. Instead, laughter, waiting, and deafening silence. But what if, instead of unanswered calls, we could hear the echoes of laughter from children who are safe, mothers who are cared for, and communities that are healthy?

Ensuring healthy lives and well-being is not a privilege; it is a human right. Yet, the global maternal mortality ratio was 197 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023, still far above the 2030 SDG target of less than 70. Progress has been made in life expectancy, child survival, and control of diseases like HIV and malaria, but the world remains off-track to meet many health-related SDG targets by 2030. In the Philippines, maternal mortality has declined from 221 per 100,000 live births in 2010 to around 130 in 2022, but remains high compared to neighboring countries.

Health is more than the absence of disease; it is about the presence of a system. Because of continued gaps in the health system, a fever becomes a crisis. A cough becomes fear. A simple illness becomes expensive, dangerous, and exhausting. It is the ability to live with dignity, to work without constant fear, to raise children without worrying that a single illness could destroy a family’s future. Good health and well-being are not luxuries for the few; they are foundations for all.

At Colegio de Kidapawan, ensuring that no one is left behind, SDG 3 reminds us that health and education cannot be separated. A student cannot learn well when burdened by illness, stress, or uncertainty. A community cannot grow strong when health care is out of reach.