2023: Our Accomplishments in Advancing Public Health

Throughout 2023, Vital Strategies has worked in more than 80 countries to strengthen health systems and policies, partnering with governments and civil society to reimagine evidence-based, locally driven policies and practices to advance public health.

A few of our key achievements include:

• Our Civil Registration and Vital Statistics program provided technical assistance to 17 focus countries including Cambodia, where we supported the development of a new state-of-the-art CRVS-ID law. The U.N. Sustainable Development Goals set a target for 100% of births and 80% of deaths to be registered globally by 2030 and this new law and system is a major achievement toward realizing this goal in Cambodia.
• Our Environmental Health team worked with BBC Storyworks Commercial Productions to create a film, The Data Healing the Lungs of a City, looking at how residents of Jakarta, Indonesia are benefiting from new air pollution monitoring stations, set up by Vital Strategies and our partners.
• We pioneered a project that combines AI and expertise in public health data surveillance in Brazil to identify risk factors for women who are most likely to suffer from incidences of gender-based violence. The tool can both inform health care providers and policymakers to better address violence and to act early to prevent severe injuries and deaths from happening.
• Our Overdose Prevention Program, our only U.S.-based program, provided technical assistance and support to states for opioid settlement planning, for the millions of dollars in new funding that is being disbursed as a result of litigation settlements with pharmaceutical companies.
• Our RESET Alcohol Program worked in six countries, with a focus on increasing alcohol taxation, one of the most effective ways to reduce consumption. Many of these countries have developed models to help inform government tax policy, which demonstrate both the revenue and public health gains.
• More than 300 people from six continents, including 13 mayors, joined the inaugural Partnership for Healthy Cities Summit in London. The summit was a huge boost for public awareness of the network, with more 180 news articles published.

From improving birth and death registrations to ensure everyone counts, to helping protect millions of children from lead poisoning, I am immensely proud of our achievements throughout 2023. See below for some key statistics from our work throughout the year and a collection of top photos from our programs here.

We stand ready to continue our progress throughout 2024 and beyond, working for a world where everyone, everywhere is protected by equitable and effective public health systems.

José Luis Castro
President and Chief Executive Officer

2023: Our Year in Photos

As 2023 comes to an end, we’re taking a look back at some of our favorite photos from our work around the world.

See them on our Vital Stories blog.