Citizen science for monitoring the health and well-being related Sustainable Development Goals and the World Health Organization’s Triple Billion Targets

Abstract

Achieving the health and well-being related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Triple Billion Targets depends on informed decisions that are based on concerted data collection and monitoring efforts. Even though data availability has been increasing in recent years, significant gaps still remain for routine surveillance to guide policies and actions. The COVID-19 crisis has shown that more and better data and strengthened health information systems are needed to inform timely decisions that save lives. Traditional sources of data such as nationally representative surveys are not adequate for addressing this challenge alone. Additionally, the funding required to measure all health and well-being related SDG indicators and Triple Billion Targets using only traditional sources of data is a challenge to achieving efficient, timely and reliable monitoring systems. Citizen science, public participation in scientific research and knowledge production, can contribute to addressing some of these data gaps efficiently and sustainably when designed well, and ultimately, could contribute to the achievement of the health and well-being related SDGs and Triple Billion Targets. Through a systematic review of health and well-being related indicators, as well as citizen science initiatives, this paper aims to explore the potential of citizen science for monitoring health and well-being and for mobilizing action toward the achievement of health and well-being related targets as outlined in the SDG framework and Triple Billion Targets. The results demonstrate that out of 58 health and well-being related indicators of the SDGs and Triple Billion Targets covered in this study, citizen science could potentially contribute to monitoring 48 of these indicators and their targets, mostly at a local and community level, which can then be upscaled at a national level with the projection to reach global level monitoring and implementation. To integrate citizen science with official health and well-being statistics, the main recommendation is to build trusted partnerships with key stakeholders including National Statistical Offices, governments, academia and the custodian agencies, which is mostly the WHO for these health and well-being related targets and indicators.