SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being
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Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
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Please click here for a full, international overview of SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being.
How is Boston tracking toward SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being?
I want to advocate for Good Health & Well-Being, where do I start?
Start advocating by picking an indicator that needs your help…
Support these regional organizations
Check out the Boston Public Health Commission, the country’s oldest health department, which provides a variety of health services. The Healthy Baby Healthy Child program provides home visits and services to pregnant and parenting families with children under the age of five to all Boston residents. The Commission recognizes that healthy families are essential to a healthy Boston and is actively working to assist parents, caregivers, and children.
Support these regional organizations
Health Care for All Massachusetts is a health-care policy research and advocacy organization
Mass-Care is a regional Medicare For All advocacy group
Support these national organizations
Healthcare-NOW is a grassroots organization fighting for a federal single-payer health care system, and has about 300 chapter nationwide.
Center for Medicare Advocacy offers support for those dealing with the Medicare system as well as general education about how the system works as a whole.
Key pieces of legislation
“An act relative to protecting public health and reducing healthcare costs” https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/SD972
Support these regional organizations
Support the Children’s Mental Health Campaign (CMHC), a statewide network working to ensure that all children in Massachusetts have access to resources to prevent, diagnose, and address mental health issues in effective and compassionate ways.
Get involved with the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Massachusetts (NAMI Massachusetts), a nonprofit grassroots organization that is the state’s voice on mental illness. NAMI Massachusetts works to improve the quality of life for people diagnosed with mental health conditions and their families, as well as improve public awareness through trainings, education and support programs, and state and local advocacy efforts.
Connect with the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health (MAMH) and its work to increase understanding of mental health conditions and tackle disparities in access to health services. MAMH has a Culturally Responsive Behavioral Health Resource Hub to help support Black, Latinx, and Asian American individuals find services that fit their specific social, cultural, and linguistic needs.
See how the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) is focusing on children’s mental health as part of its efforts to support healthy development in children.
Key pieces of legislation
“An act to improve mental health services in places of incarceration” https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/HD3001
Everyday actions you can take
Discover a number of mental health resources from NAMI, including help navigating a mental health crisis, employment tips, legal resources, and family support.
Check out a list of 9 daily activities to help maintain mental health.
Find some tips on daily structures to put in place for your mental health from Greater Good Magazine, which provides science-based insights for a more meaningful life.
Support these regional organizations
Check out the Boston Public Health Commission, the country’s oldest health department, which provides a variety of health services. The Healthy Baby Healthy Child program provides home visits and services to pregnant and parenting families with children under the age of five to all Boston residents. The Commission recognizes that healthy families are essential to a healthy Boston and is actively working to assist parents, caregivers, and children.
Key pieces of legislation
“An act relative to conducting fetal and infant mortality rate review” https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/HD749
Support these national/international organizations
Learn more about trends in child mortality through the Global Health Observatory, part of the World Health Organization.
See how the CDC is committed to improving birth outcomes in partnership with public health agencies, health care providers, communities, and other partners. The CDC uses data and well-established programs to work to reduce infant and child mortality.
Discover strategies from WHO to improve pre- and postnatal care in order to reduce infant mortality.
Support these regional organizations
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a highly influential cancer research organization based in Boston, focused both on cancer treatment and drug research.
Preventative Food Pantry is a food bank launched by the Boston Medical Center with the purpose of providing healthy food to disadvantaged populations
Support these national / international organizations
Explore this factsheet from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), part of WHO, on how non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are related to gender. The factsheet outlines gender-related challenges to tackling NCDs, as well as opportunities to address NCDs with a focus on gender.
Find out more about how WHO is providing leadership and research on the prevention and control of NCDs. WHO plays a central role in the global fight against NCDs and achieving SDG target 3.4.
Combat NCD risk factors through modifiable behaviors, including tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, and harmful alcohol use. WHO offers a number of suggestions for prevention measures.
Key pieces of legislation
Support these regional organizations
Find out more about the Gayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center as it works to provide treatment and support to patients, as well as serve as a national resource to policymakers and advocates to help revolutionize addiction treatment and education.
Check out a guide on the Massachusetts addiction landscape from AdCare addiction treatment centers. The page also includes steps that are being taken in Massachusetts to combat opioid abuse and overdose.
Explore the City of Boston’s analysis of the substance abuse and recovery service system in the city and the recommendations provided in the report.
Get trained on overdose prevention with the Boston Public Health Commission.
Support these national organizations
Shatterproof focuses on advocating for improved addiction treatment and education nationwide
Drug Policy Alliance advocates for progressive change to both federal and state drug policy in order to ensure a less criminalizing approach