Meta-analysis of the literature related to SDG 3 and its investment

2020 revealed the vulnerability of the healthcare systems in most countries. It also highlighted their failure to generate serious progress in the fulfillment of Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3): Ensure healthy lives and promote welfare for all at all ages. One of the key problems inhibiting its progress is the lack of financial resources. Based on a comprehensive meta-analysis of the literature related to SDG 3 and its investment, it aims to demonstrate that lack of appropriate academic support is a part of the failure to generate serious progress in the fulfillment of SDG 3. To do this academic literature published in the period 2010–2019 is analyzed. SciVal Elsevier, VosViewer, and Google Trends tools are applied for analysis. The results show that there is a significant interest in the academic circles on SDG 3 alone. However, this interest is concentrated toward its medical aspects while economic aspects, including investment, are poorly represented. This study shows that the reason for the current investment gap in SDG 3 is the lack of academic support to provide a theoretical, methodological, and analytical framework for tackling the financing problem for SDG 3.