Progress persists for low-baseline SDGs, while high-baseline goals stagnate or reverse
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 13-Jan-2026 00:11 ET (13-Jan-2026 05:11 GMT/UTC)
With only five years until the 2030 deadline for achieving the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a new international study reveals uneven progress in achieving the goals since their adoption in 2015. The paper, recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reveals that global progress on numerous SDGs with high initial benchmarks has either stalled or gone into reverse. In contrast, SDG indicators with lower baseline performance continue to register gains. Researchers caution that the vast majority of countries will fail to meet their 2030 SDG targets under current trends.
Long COVID—defined as symptoms persisting ≥ 2 months beyond acute SARS-CoV-2 infection without alternative explanation—now affects an estimated 65 million people worldwide and lacks any approved, evidence-based therapy; the present overview therefore synthesizes current mechanistic insights and catalogs experimental interventions ranging from supervised rehabilitation to antivirals, anticoagulants, anti-inflammatories, nutraceuticals and emerging biologics. Key pathogenic drivers include persistent viral reservoirs, chronic low-grade inflammation with IL-1β/IL-6/TNF-α elevation, micro-clot formation via spike-protein–fibrinogen interactions, auto-immunity, gut dysbiosis and mitochondrial dysfunction. These pathways translate into multi-organ sequelae: endothelial dysfunction, myocarditis, neuro-inflammation, small-fiber neuropathy, ME/CFS-like fatigue, menstrual irregularities, glucose intolerance and renal or hepatic injury.
China has moved from patchy, post-crisis biosafety rules to a unified legal regime anchored by the 2020 Biosecurity Law, yet fragmentation, weak risk intelligence and poor inter-agency coordination still leave gaps that could be exploited by novel pathogens, synthetic biology or geopolitical tension. Historical review shows three phases: 1949-2002 built basic disease reporting and plant-quarantine systems but relied on paper records; 2003-2019 introduced internet-based surveillance, BSL-3/4 laboratories and alignment with WHO’s International Health Regulations after the SARS shock; 2020-present elevated biosafety to national-security status, enacted the Biosecurity Law and poured funds into diagnostics, vaccines and bio-economic R&D during COVID-19. These steps created the skeleton of a modern system, but four structural weaknesses persist: strategic plans lack operational road-maps and AI-enabled foresight; the legal framework offers no clear dispute-resolution or accountability mechanisms; organisational silos among health, agriculture, science and military agencies hamper horizontal coordination; and public awareness plus professional training remain patchy, weakening compliance culture.
China’s rapidly ageing society—487 million people ≥ 60 years by 2050—faces an escalating dementia crisis: 15 million patients already account for one-quarter of the global total, while combined dementia and mild cognitive impairment affect 54 million citizens. Deaths from Alzheimer’s disease have risen 140% in two decades, making it a top-six cause of mortality, and annual care costs are projected to surge from US $168 billion in 2015 to US $1.9 trillion by 2050. Care-giver burden is equally stark: 84 % report sleep disturbance and 44% anxiety, while 77% of patients depend solely on unpaid family support. Current prevention and control systems, however, remain fragmented and under-resourced. Diagnosis is missed in 86% of community cases—well above the global 75%—and only 660 memory clinics operate nationwide against a need for > 3 500. Drug development lags behind the West; beyond the controversial anti-amyloid antibodies aducanumab, lecanemab and donanemab, China offers only the investigational TCM-derived GV-971. No national long-term care insurance equivalent to Japan’s or Germany’s exists, leaving families to shoulder more than half of total costs.
Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) and coarse particles (PM₁₀) significantly accelerates progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) among patients with biopsy-proven IgA nephropathy (IgAN), with risk tripling beyond concentration thresholds of 50 μg/m³ for PM₂.₅ and 77 μg/m³ for PM₁₀, independent of classical clinical predictors. A retrospective cohort of 1,768 IgAN patients followed from 2010 to 2021 in Sichuan Province recorded 209 ESRD events. Satellite-derived 1-km-resolution pollutant concentrations were linked to residential addresses; cumulative post-baseline mean PM₂.₅ ranged 9–87 μg/m³ (median 46 μg/m³) and PM₁₀ 19–145 μg/m³ (median 74 μg/m³). Fully-adjusted Cox models showed highest-quartile PM₂.₅ exposure carried a hazard ratio of 3.49 (95% CI 2.16–5.62) and PM₁₀ 3.75 (2.33–6.06) versus the lowest quartile; each 10 μg/m³ increment raised ESRD risk by 62% and 36%, respectively. Restricted cubic splines revealed sharply upward inflections above the identified thresholds, indicating nonlinear dose–response.
Chronic subcutaneous spexin (50 µg kg⁻¹ day⁻¹ for 4 weeks) not only amplifies ischaemia–reperfusion-induced AKI in male BALB/c mice but also provokes overt nephrotoxicity in otherwise healthy kidneys, overturning the peptide’s previously advertised renoprotective image and linking the damage to sustained Wnt/β-catenin signalling, systemic inflammation and early fibrogenesis. Six hours after bilateral 30-min renal ischaemia, animals that had received spexin exhibited higher serum creatinine and KIM-1 than vehicle-treated IRI controls, while spexin-alone mice already showed elevated SCr, moderate tubular necrosis, cast formation and glomerular sclerosis, proving an intrinsic renal insult independent of ischaemia. Histological injury scores and Masson-trichrome fibrosis indices rose in parallel; α-SMA and fibronectin accumulated in spexin-exposed kidneys even without IRI, heralding prompt profibrotic priming.
RRS1, a ribosome-biogenesis factor previously linked to tumor growth, is now shown to be indispensable for normal human trophoblast behaviour: its depletion cripples proliferation, migration and invasion of HTR-8/SVneo cells and is markedly down-regulated in chorionic villi from early spontaneous abortions, positioning RRS1 insufficiency as a candidate driver of placental insufficiency. Single-cell multi-omics revealed robust RRS1 mRNA in trophectoderm but not in primitive endoderm or epiblast, and nuclear-localised protein was highest in the immortalised first-trimester trophoblast line HTR-8/SVneo. Three siRNAs reduced RRS1 transcript by 75% and protein by 70%; confluence curves generated by IncuCyte live-cell imaging showed an 18-h lag in proliferation that translated into a 35% drop in Ki-67 and a 42% reduction in EdU incorporation. Simultaneously, γ-H2AX foci increased 2.3-fold, indicating DNA double-strand breaks, while qPCR and Western blot confirmed up-regulation of TP53, CTSH and other apoptosis-related genes.
Platinum-resistant recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer carries a bleak prognosis, with single-agent chemotherapy yielding response rates below 20% and median progression-free survival barely reaching 4 months; the A-Plus phase II trial therefore tested a chemotherapy-free, all-oral regimen combining albumin-bound paclitaxel and the multi-kinase inhibitor anlotinib in 44 heavily pre-treated women. Between January 2021 and March 2023, patients aged 32-70 years received nab-paclitaxel 260 mg m⁻² intravenously on day 1 plus anlotinib 12 mg orally once daily on days 1-14 of each 21-day cycle until progression or intolerable toxicity. Eligibility required documented platinum resistance, ECOG performance status 0-1, measurable or evaluable disease by RECIST 1.1 or Rustin criteria, and adequate organ function; prior anti-angiogenic therapy or PARP inhibitors was allowed, reflecting real-world refractory populations.
Congenital musculoskeletal and limb deformities (CMLD) remain one of the most visible yet under-prioritized birth defects, generating lifelong disability, stigma and economic loss; fresh GBD 2021 estimates now map incidence, prevalence, deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for children under five across 204 territories from 1990 to 2021, revealing both encouraging global declines and widening relative inequality. Worldwide incident cases fell modestly from 2.52 to 2.44 million, pushing incidence down from 407 to 370 per 100 000 (EAPC −0.2%), while prevalent cases decreased only marginally; sharper improvements were seen in health loss, with DALYs dropping 27% to 258 per 100 000 and mortality falling 37% to 168 per million, signalling better survival and functional care. These headline trends, however, mask striking heterogeneity linked to socio-demographic index (SDI): low-SDI settings still record the highest incidence (466 per 100 000) and DALYs (367), whereas high-SDI countries report less than half those rates, and middle-SDI regions achieved the steepest annual reductions (−0.5% incidence, −1.6% DALYs).
Acute ischemic stroke caused by large-vessel occlusion demands rapid restoration of cerebral blood flow, and stent retrievers have evolved from simple helical wires into sophisticated multi-layer nitinol devices that achieve recanalization rates exceeding 80 %. The first-generation MERCI system introduced the concept of endovascular clot extraction, yet its 48 % recanalization rate and 7.8 % symptomatic hemorrhage risk underscored the need for better wall apposition, thrombus engagement, and distal protection. Second-generation closed-loop designs such as Solitaire and Trevo doubled the rate of favorable three-month outcomes by combining self-expanding radial force with full-length radiopacity, enabling operators to visualize device–thrombus interaction and limit passes. Third-generation tools now integrate dual-layer baskets, adjustable radial force, and distal trapping zones that capture fragmented thrombi while reducing endothelial trauma, pushing first-pass effect toward 60 % and cutting procedure time to under 45 min in experienced centers.