The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a strategy for health equity and sustainable and healthy territories

Abstract

Based on the narrative exercise, this article examines the concept of health inequalities, its
relationship with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and challenges in operationalizing the 2030 Agenda principle of ‘Leaving No One Behind’ (LNOB). The implications of these debates for the implementa tion of the SDGs aimed at vulnerable population groups in local territories and their effective participation in this process are also highlighted. Finally, it presents Primary Health Care, in the Brazilian context, as a fundamental health care strategy that focuses on prevention, promotion and rehabilitation of users, and can contribute to the local LNOB approach and the creation of sustainable and healthy territories. We are halfway through the scheduled deadline for the agenda, and the challenges are many. Urgency is needed in its implementation, which requires national planning, investment in public sector capacity and digital infra structure, capacity building of local governments and improvements in monitoring and reviewing the SDGs. It also includes the importance of facing emerging challenges and filling existing gaps in the international architecture related to the SDGs since 2015.