Who's been left behind? Why sustainable development goals fail the Arab world

Abstract

1–5 Evidence of persistent infectious disease in low-income and middle-income Arab countries exists, alongside increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases in all Arab countries, 6,7 high out-of-pocket health expenditure, 8 poor access to safe water, as well as violent confl ict, persistent foreign interventions, and high levels of social and political fragmentation that result in weak health systems and diminished rights to health. 9 Two sets of indicators, with important implications for health and development, are strikingly extreme in the Arab region (appendix). First, the Arab world has ten times the per person world average number of refugees and, in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the highest number of international migrant workers as a percentage of the population at more than ten times the world average. Second, the Arab world has high levels of militarisation, with weapons imports per person at more than four times the world average. Additionally, the Arab world has the lowest ratios of health to military expenditures at less than one-fi fth of the world average.