Measuring progress on health and well-being in the Eastern Mediterranean Region via voluntary national reviews, 2016-2021: What does the data reveal?

Background: Country submission of Voluntary National Reviews is the formal mechanism to report on progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite strong political commitment to strong information systems, large data gaps exist in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Methods: This study aims to review reports submitted by countries in the region to assess the comprehensiveness of reporting on the health-reported SDG targets and indicators.

Integrating health across the Sustainable Development Goals in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: Assessment of Voluntary National Reviews from 18 countries.

Voluntary National Reviews are the formal mechanism for countries to report on progress and share lessons learned on SDG implementation. We assessed the Voluntary National Reviews submitted by countries in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region to note the reported progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) implementation, the review preparation process and how health is positioned and framed to identify priorities for accelerating progress on the health-related SDGs. We extracted quantitative and qualitative data from 26 Voluntary National Reviews from 18 countries submitted during the period 2016 to January 2022.