Projects

Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing

Almost 25% of the world’s population are aged 10 to 24 years, history's largest generation of adolescents. Adolescence is a critical life phase when physical, cognitive and social development shapes health and wellbeing into adulthood and for the next generation. Investment in adolescent health has the transformational potential to drive progress in health, gender equality and sustainable development, with the UN Secretary-General identifying adolescents as “the world’s greatest untapped resource”.

Objective

Despite the incentives to invest in adolescent health, progress for the world’s adolescents has been slow.

In 2013 The Lancet partnered with four leading academic institutions (The University of Melbourne, The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University College London and Columbia University) to establish a Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing.

This first commission aimed to define health needs for adolescents globally and identify the opportunities and challenges for investment at country and global levels.

The second commission, published in 2025, extended work to examine the social, cultural and ecological determinants of adolescent health and development, and propose scalable solutions and multisectoral actions to accelerate progress.

Timeline

2015–current.

Approach

The landmark report, Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing, brought together a network of academics, policy makers, practitioners, and young health advocates with broad expertise in adolescent health. The Commission's 30 members bring experience from 14 countries across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South America. Members include Burnet Institute researchers Dr Elissa Kennedy and Professor Peter Azzopardi.

This first commission drew on global data, evidence, and expertise to define a global health profile for adolescents aged 10-24 years and propose actions to match health needs.

The second commission established a multidisciplinary network of more than 40 experts spanning 21 countries and including 10 youth commissioners. Building on the first commission, this work analysed contemporary determinants of health and wellbeing in a rapidly changing world and reported progress in health risks and outcomes since 2016. It also defined recommendations for actions across sectors to overcome barriers and accelerate progress.

Important progress has been made since the first landmark commission report. There are new global initiatives and funding mechanisms for adolescent health and to support young people’s meaningful engagement.

There has also been progress to improve data systems and health metrics for adolescent health, such as for mental health, and greater attention to wellbeing.

Reports and other work

Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing

Landmark report defining a global profile of adolescent health, actions to address health needs, and indicators to track progress.
A call to action: the second Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing

The second commission report describes progress in adolescent health, analyses social, cultural and ecological determinants of health, and recommendations for multisectoral action.
Adolescents Our Future

Webpage for the Standing Commission containing an overview, updates and resources.