Quantifying targets for the SDG health goal

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) represent the best example of an international commitment to a set of normative principles underpinned by ideals of equity, solidarity, and peace.1,2 The goals achieved universal support because they were ambitious, included indicators that permitted measurement and accountability, and set 2015 for final reporting. The goals institutionalised poverty as multidimensional, and shaped development as beyond economics.3 Criticisms of the MDGs included the omission of many of the concerns of the Millennium Declaration, and the lack of adequate consultation on the process.