Health and wellbeing

Health and well-being have a central role in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) endorsed by the United Nations, emphasizing the integral part they play in building a sustainable future. The third SDG explicitly calls for ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages. This goal encompasses a wide range of health objectives, from reducing maternal and child mortality rates, combatting disease epidemics, to improving mental health and well-being. But beyond SDG 3, health is intrinsically linked with almost all the other goals.

When addressing SDG 1, which aims to end poverty, one cannot neglect the social determinants of health. Economic hardship often translates into poor nutrition, inadequate housing, and limited access to health care, leading to a vicious cycle of poverty and poor health. Similarly, achieving SDG 2, ending hunger, also contributes to better health through adequate nutrition, essential for physical and mental development and the prevention of various diseases.

Conversely, the repercussions of climate change, encapsulated in SDG 13, profoundly impact health. Rising global temperatures can lead to increased spread of infectious diseases, compromised food and water supplies, and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, all posing severe health risks. Conversely, the promotion of good health can also mitigate climate change through the reduction of carbon-intensive lifestyles and adoption of healthier, more sustainable behaviors.

SDG 5, advocating for gender equality, also has substantial health implications. Ensuring women's access to sexual and reproductive health services not only improves their health outcomes, but also contributes to societal and economic development. Furthermore, achieving SDG 4, quality education, is also critical for health promotion. Education fosters health literacy, empowering individuals to make informed health decisions, hence improving overall community health.

Lastly, SDG 17 underlines the importance of partnerships for achieving these goals. Multi-sector collaboration is vital to integrate health considerations into all policies and practices. Stakeholders from various sectors, including health, education, agriculture, finance, and urban planning, need to align their efforts in creating sustainable environments that foster health and well-being.

Hence, the relationship between health, well-being, and the SDGs is reciprocal. Improving health and well-being helps in achieving sustainable development, and vice versa. In this context, health and well-being are not just outcomes but are also powerful enablers of sustainable development. For the world to truly thrive, it must recognize and act upon these interconnections.

Grandparenting has been proposed as an ultimate evolutionary mechanism that has contributed to the increase in human life expectancy (see the grandmother hypothesis). The neural and hormonal system – originally rooted in parenting and thus grandparenting – that is activated in the process of caregiving has been suggested as a potential proximate mechanism that promotes engagement in prosocial behavior towards kin and non-kin alike. Evidence and theory suggest that activating this caregiving system positively impacts health and may reduce the mortality of the helper.
Elsevier,

Comprehensive Biomaterials II, Volume 6, 2017, Pages 435-454

This chapter advances goals 3 and 5 by reviewing advancements and challenges in breast tissue engineering, potentially used for the purposes of reconstructive surgery in women who have had breast cancer surgery.
This article highlights the winning proposals of the second edition of the Elsevier Foundation Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge. The winning proposals were chosen for their innovative green chemistry aspects and their large positive impact on the environment, contributing to SDGs 3, 8, 13 and 15.
This chapter advances SDG 3 and 5 by exploring some of the factors associated with high mortality rates in Indian girls including in the 5 to 14 age group.
This book chapter advances SDG 3 and 5 by describing how autism research and diagnostic practices have been challenged in terms of androcentric assumptions and biased assessment practices, suggesting that methods are insensitive to gender differences on the spectrum. It is now recognized that girls on the autism spectrum may present differently from boys and hence their identification and subsequent needs may go unrecognized.
Elsevier,

Biometals in Neurodegenerative Diseases, Mechanisms and Therapeutics, 2017, Pages 1-17

This chapter addresses goal 3 by discussing the potential of targeting biometals in Alzheimer's disease as a therapeutic avenue.
Elsevier, Lancet (London, England), Volume 389, 1 April 2017
In February, 2016, WHO released a report for the development of national action plans to address the threat of antibiotic resistance, the catastrophic consequences of inaction, and the need for antibiotic stewardship. Antibiotic stewardship combined with infection prevention comprises a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to optimise use of antibiotics. Efforts to mitigate overuse will be unsustainable without learning and coordinating activities globally.
Anti-infective drugs have had a key role in the contemporary world, contributing to dramatically decrease mortality rates caused by infectious diseases worldwide. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are multifunctional effectors of the innate immune system of mucosal surfaces and present antimicrobial activity against a range of pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and fungi. However, the discovery and development of new antibacterial drugs is a crucial step to overcome the great challenge posed by the emergence of antibiotic resistance.
Elsevier, Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, Volume 30, 1 February 2017
Study Objective Produce Girl Talk, a free smartphone application containing comprehensive sexual health information, and determine the application's desirability and appeal among teenage girls. Design, Setting, Participants, and Interventions Thirty-nine girls ages 12 to 17 years from Rhode Island participated in a 2-phase prospective study. In phase I, 22 girls assessed a sexual health questionnaire in focus groups. In phase II, 17 girls with iPhones used Girl Talk for 2 weeks and answered the revised sexual health questionnaire and interview questions before and after use.

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