Ireland's UN SDGs - Goal 3 Good Health and Well-Being 2024

SDG 3.a.1 Age-Standardized Prevalence of Current Tobacco use Among Persons Aged 15 Years and Older

SDG 3.a.1 Age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among persons aged 15 years and older is published in the Healthy Ireland Survey 2023 Summary Report and in the CSO, Irish Health Survey.

Definition

The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 3.a.1 metadata document:

The indicator is defined as the percentage of the population aged 15 years and over who currently use any tobacco product (smoked and/or smokeless tobacco) on a daily or non-daily basis.

Healthy Ireland Survey 2023

According to the Healthy Ireland Survey 2023:

• 18% of the population are current smokers, with 14% daily smokers and 4% occasional smokers. Smoking rates are the same as reported in 2022 and have been relatively stable since 2019. See Table 9.1 and Figure 9.1.
• Those aged 25-34 years (22%) remain the most likely age group to smoke, however this is a 2-point decrease since 2022 and a 10-point decrease since the first wave of this survey in 2015. See Table 9.2 and Figure 9.2.
• Men (21%) remain more likely to smoke than women (15%). In the youngest age group of those aged 15-24 years, 22% of men and 17% of women are current smokers, with both groups showing a 3-point increase from that reported in the 2022 survey.
• Smoking rates remain higher for those who are unemployed (40%) than those in employment (17%). They also remain higher among those with a Junior Certificate or lower (20%) than those with a Leaving Certificate or higher (17%), the same figures as reported in 2022.

E-Cigarettes

• 8% of the population currently use e-cigarettes either daily (5%) or occasionally (3%), with a further 12% reporting they have tried them in the past but no longer use them. In 2022, 6% were current users of e-cigarettes.
• E-cigarette usage remains consistent among genders as 9% of men and 8% of women use e-cigarettes either daily or occasionally.
• A fifth (20%) of women aged 15-24 years use e-cigarettes either daily (11%) or occasionally (9%), making them the group with the highest prevalence of the e-cigarette usage. 16% of men in the same age group use e-cigarettes either daily (9%) or occasionally (7%).
• Usage of e-cigarettes remains highest among those aged under 25 years, with 18% in this age group currently using them either daily or occasionally. This represents a 3-point decrease from the reported figure in 2022, which stood at 21%. In contrast, those aged 35-44 years have experienced a 3-point increase since 2022, with 8% of them now using e-cigarettes compared to 5% in 2022.
• Those who are unemployed (16%) are more likely to use e-cigarettes either daily or occasionally compared to those who are employed (7%). In 2022, both employed and unemployed individuals were equally likely to use e-cigarettes, both 7%.
• 24% of e-cigarette users are daily tobacco smokers and 14% are occasional tobacco smokers. Half (49%) of e-cigarette users are ex-smokers, while just over one in ten (13%) e-cigarette users have never smoked.

CSO - Irish Health Survey

Additional categories on smoking by region, employment status and deprivation status are available for 2019 from the CSO Irish Health Survey 2019.

In 2019, smoking was highest among people in the Border, Midlands and Mid-West regions where 15% of people smoked daily. Only 12% smoked in the Mid-East region. See Table 9.3 and Map 9.1.

The survey reported that 35% of unemployed people smoked daily compared to 14% of people at work in 2019. See Table 9.4.

Results showed that 19% of people smoked daily in areas categorised as ‘very disadvantaged’ in the CSO Irish Health Survey 2019. Areas categorised as ‘very affluent’ reported 10% of people smoked daily in 2019. See Table 9.5.

SDG 3.b.1 Proportion of the Target Population Covered by all Vaccines Included in their National Programme

SDG 3.b.1 Proportion of the target population covered by all vaccines included in their national programme is published by the Department of Health in their annual publication Health in Ireland Key Trends 2023.

Definition

The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 3.b.1 metadata document:

Coverage of DTP containing vaccine (3rd dose): Percentage of surviving infants who received the 3 doses of diphtheria and tetanus toxoid with pertussis containing vaccine in a given year.

Coverage of Measles containing vaccine (2nd dose): Percentage of children who received two dose of measles containing vaccine according to nationally recommended schedule through routine immunization services in a given year.

Coverage of Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (last dose in the schedule): Percentage of surviving infants who received the nationally recommended doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in a given year.

Coverage of HPV vaccine (last dose in the schedule): Percentage of 15 years old girls who received the recommended doses of HPV vaccine. Currently performance of the programme in the previous calendar year based on target age group is used.

Health in Ireland Key Trends

Information on immunisation rates up to and including 2022 are published by the Department of Health in their annual publication Health in Ireland Key Trends 2023.

The publication states that:

• The uptake in the HPV vaccine is considerably higher in 2022 (69%) than it was in 2017 (when the uptake was just above 51%), but is still below that of 2014 (88%), the highest over the decade. 
• Immunisation uptake rates for many illnesses remain stable and above 90%, though Hib, Meningococcal, and MMR have all fallen below this level.

 See Table 9.6 for percentage uptake of vaccines from 2013-2022.

Health Service Executive - COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake

The Health Service Executive issued a report on the absolute number of COVID-19 Autumn booster doses by age group administered since 18/09/2023 as of end 17/12/2023. There was 696,864 booster doses administered, representing an uptake of 13.5% of the population. The highest uptake was in the 60+ years age group, with 47.2% uptake. See Table 9.7.

In 2023, 76.5% of the 65 years and over age group received the influenza vaccine, a slight increase from 75.4% in 2022. See Table 9.8.

SDG 3.b.2 Total Net Official Development Assistance to Medical Research and Basic Health Sectors

SDG 3.b.2 Total net official development assistance to medical research and basic health sectors is published by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Definition

The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 3.b.2 metadata document:

Gross disbursements of total ODA from all donors to medical research and basic health sectors.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)

Ireland spent €65.5m on direct bilateral support for the medical research and basic health sectors in 2022, as measured under indicator 3.b.2 and reported through the OECD Development Assistance Committee Credit Reporting System. 

Irish Aid is the Irish Government’s official development cooperation programme, managed by the Development Cooperation and Africa Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Irish Aid work on behalf of Irish people to address poverty, hunger and inequality in some of the world’s poorest countries. The development assistance programme is an integral part of Ireland’s foreign policy.

Health and Basic Nutrition are key policy priorities of our development aid programme. The €65.5m reported under SDG 3.b.2 represents a subset of a combined total bilateral spend of €81.8m on Health and Basic Nutrition, as presented in Annex Six, Bilateral ODA by Sector (p.104), of the Government of Ireland Official Development Assistance Annual Report 2022. (Basic Nutrition is presented as a distinct category totalling €13.9 in the Annex format, but all of this spending is captured under SDG 3.b.2).  

The Health and Basic Nutrition combined total of €81.8m made up 10% of total 2022’s bilateral ODA spending, the largest sectoral share after Multisector (40%), which is generic, wide-ranging category, and Humanitarian Assistance (22%).

In addition to this bilateral ODA, Ireland provided €29m in core contributions to multilateral institutions dedicated to accelerating the attainment of the SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being for all, as shown in Table 9.9.

SDG 3.b.3 Proportion of Health Facilities That Have a Core Set of Relevant Essential Medicines Available and Affordable on a Sustainable Basis

SDG 3.b.3 Proportion of health facilities that have a core set of relevant essential medicines available and affordable on a sustainable basis is published by the Department of Health in their annual publication Health in Ireland Key Trends 2023 and the Health Service Executive - Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

Definition

The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 3.b.3 metadata document:

Proportion of health facilities that have a core set of relevant essential medicines available and affordable on a sustainable basis.

The indicator is a multidimensional index reported as a proportion (%) of health facilities that have a defined core set of quality-assured medicines that are available and affordable relative to the total number of surveyed health facilities at national level.

Health in Ireland Key Trends

The Department of Health‘s annual publication Health in Ireland Key Trends 2023 provides information on essential medicines available and affordable on a sustainable basis upto and including 2022. Information here is from Chapter 4 Primary Care and Community Services which provides an overview of the extensive primary care sector, including a broad range of services. General Practitioner (GP) care, immunisation rates, blood donations, drug treatment and reimbursement services such as the medical card, GP visit card, Drug Payment and Long-Term Illness (LTI) schemes are also discussed in their publication.

The number of medical card holders in 2022 was 15.4% less than in 2013, at 1,565,202 and 1,849,380 respectively. In December 2022, 30.4% of the population had a medical card, compared to 40.1% in 2013. See Table 9.10.

The percentage of the population participating in the Drugs Payment Scheme has increased by 5.9% since 2013, from 1,399,959 to 1,654,375 respectively.

Numbers for the Long-Term Illness scheme has more than doubled from 158,924 in 2013 to 332,967 in 2022. See Table 9.10.

Further key trends from the 2023 report show:

• The percentage of the population covered by private health insurance rose slightly over past few years, from 43.1% in 2018 to 45.3% in 2022, and the increase was larger among those aged 18–39 years and those over 80 years. 
• There has been a 2.7% decrease in the number of people residing in long-stay care facilities from 2017–2022, and almost half of these residents (48.5%) are over the age of 85 years,
• The percentage of blood donors in the population decreased in 2020 and has largely remained at the same level since. The number of whole blood donations is also still below the level it was at in 2018.
• The uptake in the HPV vaccine is considerably higher than it was in 2017 (when the uptake was just above 51%), but is still below that of 2014 (88%), the highest over the decade to 2022. Immunisation uptake rates for many illnesses remain stable and above 90%, though Hib, Meningococcal, and MMR have all fallen below level.
• The data on the treatment of problem drug and alcohol use shows there were 18,009 cases treated in 2022, representing a rate of 535.5 people per 100,000 population aged 15–64 years and this rate peaked over the last decade in 2014 at 558.4.

Health Insurance Authority

Information here is from the publication Health Insurance Authority Annual Report and Accounts 2022.

Health insurance coverage continues to grow. Although it has not yet reached levels seen before 2008, 2.44 million people (including children), had health insurance at the end of 2022, corresponding to 47% of the total population. See Table 9.11 and Figure 9.3.

Slightly more women (51%) took out health insurance than men (49%). The difference is greatest for females in the 60-74 age groups. However, the proportion of males is higher than for females aged 85 and over.

The graph from the Health Insurance Authority (HIA) showing the proportion of population with health insurance by age group, in 2022, is in Figure 9.4. Over half the population in the age groups between 60 and 84 years, had health insurance. Just over 40% of the 85+ years age group had health insurance. In the 18-29 years age group 38.9% had health insurance, the lowest proportion of any age group. See Table 9.12 and Figure 9.4.

SDG 3.c.1 Health Worker Density and Distribution

SDG 3.c.1 Health worker density and distribution is published by the Department of Health. 

Definition

The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 3.c.1 metadata document:

Density of medical doctors: The density of medical doctors is defined as the number of medical doctors, including generalists and specialist medical practitioners per 10,000 population in the given national and/or subnational area. The International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) unit group codes included in this category are 221, 2211 and 2212 of ISCO-08.

Density of nursing and midwifery personnel: The density of nursing and midwifery personnel is defined as the number of nursing and midwifery personnel per 10,000 population in the given national and/or subnational area. The ISCO-08 codes included in this category are 2221, 2222, 3221 and 3222. 

Density of dentists: The density of dentists is defined as the number of dentists per 10,000 population in the given national and/or subnational area. The ISCO-08 codes included in this category are 2261.

Density of pharmacists: The density of pharmacists is defined as the number of pharmacists per 10,000 population in the given national and/or subnational area. The ISCO-08 codes included in this category are 2262.

Total Health Sector Employment

The National Healthcare Statistics data is an annual exercise conducted by the Department of Health. These statistics are compiled as part of the Non-Monetary Health Care Statistics questionnaire, administered jointly by the Eurostat, OECD and WHO in fulfilment of the European regulation (EU) 2022/2294.

Information in this section is taken from the Department of Health National Healthcare Statistics 2023 report.

Physicians

• The number of practicing physicians in Ireland for 2021 stood at 20,256 physicians, an increase of 17.6% from the previous year.
• In 2021, 53.3% of practicing physicians were male, while 35.5% of all practicing physicians were aged under 35 years. Around 5.9% of all practicing physicians in 2021 were aged 65 and over.
• Nearly 58% of all practicing physicians were practicing in the generalist medical practitioners field in 2021. From the specialists practicing physicians, 6% were practicing as general paediatricians and 11.3% as psychiatrists for the same reference year.
• From the 25,959 physicians that are licensed to practice in Ireland in 2021, 40.4% have had obtained their first medical qualification outside of Ireland. Pakistan, Sudan and the United Kingdom were the top 3 countries for these foreign trained physicians, respectively.

See Table 9.13, Table 9.14 and Table 9.15.

Midwives and Nurses

• The number of practicing midwives in Ireland for 2022 stood at 4,210 midwives, a decrease of 3.8% from the previous year.
• The number of practicing nurses in Ireland for 2022 stood at 67,808 nurses, an increase of 5.8% from the previous year.
• In 2022, around 49% of practicing nurses have had obtained their first nursing qualification outside of Ireland. India, the United Kingdom and the Philippines were the top 3 countries for these foreign trained nurses, respectively.

See Table 9.16.

Other Healthcare Professionals

• The number of practicing caring personnel in Ireland for 2022 stood at 27,208 carers, an increase of 0.3% from the previous year.
• It is estimated that the number of practicing dentists in Ireland for 2022 stood at 2,420 dentists, an increase of 3.9% from the previous year.
• It is estimated that the number of practicing pharmacists in Ireland for 2022 stood at 5,717 pharmacists, an increase of 3.3% from the previous year.
• The number of practicing physiotherapists in Ireland for 2022 stood at 5,610 physiotherapists, an increase of 5.4% from the previous year.

See Table 9.17.

Public Health Service Employment

The Department of Health‘s annual publication Health in Ireland Key Trends 2023 provides information on essential public health service employment. Information here is from Chapter 5 Health Service Employment which shows fluctuations and trends in Irish health service employment over the past decade.

There has been a consistent growth in numbers since 2014. All grade categories have increased year on year since 2019, and total public health employment stands at 137,745 in 2022.

Nursing remained the single largest grade category with almost 44,000 nurses employed in 2022 in the public health service in Ireland. Nurses accounted for almost a third (31.7%) of the total public health service workforce. This proportion has remained relatively constant over the past decade. See Table 9.18 and Figure 9.5.

The report also shows a breakdown of consultant hospital doctors by speciality. The total number of consultant hospital doctors was 3,870 in 2022 and most specialities have seen a consistent increase over the past decade. The largest consultant categories are medical and surgical.

The total number of consultant and non-consultant hospital doctors in Ireland was 11,884 in 2022, an increase of over 57% since 2013. See Table 9.19.

More information on consultant doctor workforce numbers, location, medical discipline, etc. is also available in the HSE’s Medical Workforce Report 2022-2023 on HSE National Doctors Training & Planning.

Eurostat

Eurostat data shows there were 402.5 practising physicians and 539.1 caring personnel per 100.000 of the population in 2022. See Table 9.20.

SDG 3.d.1 International Health Regulations (IHR) Capacity and Health Emergency Preparedness

SDG 3.d.1 International Health Regulations (IHR) capacity and health emergency preparedness is reported by the World Health Organisation.

Definition

The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 3.d.1 metadata document:

The revised International Health Regulations (IHR) were adopted in 2005 and entered into force in 2007. Under the IHR, States Parties are obliged to develop and maintain minimum core capacities for surveillance and response, including at points of entry, to detect, assess, notify, and respond to any potential public health events of international concern.

Article 54 of the IHR states, "States Parties and the Director-General shall report to the Health Assembly on the implementation of these Regulations as decided by the Health Assembly."

The State Party self-assessment and reporting tool captures the level of self-assessed national capacities. They are essential public health capacities that States Parties are required to put in place throughout their territories according to Articles 5 and 12 and Annex 1A of the IHR (2005) requirements.

Based on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO published the revised second edition of the IHR State Parties Self-Assessment Tool in 2021 with new indicators related to gender equality in health emergencies, advocacy for IHR implementation, and community engagement, to name a few. The revisions are intended to improve the assessment of the IHR core capacities and the preparedness of State parties for health emergencies. The indicator SDG 3.d.1 reflects the capacities State Parties of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) had agreed and committed to developing.

SDG 3.d.2 Percentage of Bloodstream Infections Due to Selected Antimicrobial-Resistant Organisms

SDG 3.d.2 Percentage of bloodstream infections due to selected antimicrobial-resistant organisms is published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HSPC).

Definition

The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 3.d.2 metadata document:

Percentage of bloodstream infection due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Escherichia coli resistant to 3rd-generation cephalosporin (e.g., ESBL- E. coli) among patients seeking care and whose blood sample is taken and tested.

Presumptive methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates as defined by oxacillin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and cefoxitin disc diffusion tests according to current internationally recognized clinical breakpoints (e.g., EUCAST or CLSI).

E. coli resistant to third generation cephalosporins: E. coli isolates that are resistant as defined by current internationally recognized clinical breakpoints for third generation cephalosporins (e.g., EUCAST or CLSI), specifically ceftriaxone or cefotaxime or ceftazidime.

Health Protection Surveillance Centre

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HSPC) published data on the number of hospital infections. Data for 2018-2022 is shown in Table 9.23.