AsianScientist (Feb. 21, 2012) – The Asia-Pacific region has made big gains in reducing poverty and is moving fast towards other development goals, but still has high levels of hunger as well as child and maternal mortality, says a new report released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) this week.
Notably, the region has has already reached the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the incidence of poverty, reducing the proportion of people living on less than US$1.25 per day from 50 to 22 percent between 1990 and 2009.
Other MDG indicators have also been met ahead of the target year of 2015.
These include promoting gender equality in education, reducing HIV prevalence, stopping the spread of tuberculosis, increasing forest cover, reducing consumption of ozone-depleting substances, and halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water.
However, over three million children died before their fifth birthday in 2010 alone, and thousands of mothers continue to die unnecessarily while giving birth, the report revealed.
While the number of people without access to safe drinking water in the region fell from 856 million to 466 million between 1990 and 2008, it still accounts for more than half the total developing world population lacking safe drinking water.
“We are in a race against time, with just three years left to achieve the MDGs,” said ESCAP Executive Secretary and UN Under-Secretary-General Noeleen Heyzer.
Why some countries do better
While South Asia as a whole is on track for just nine MDG indicators, Sri Lanka is on track for 15 indicators and outperforms the sub-region, the report said.
Levels of corruption in a country also determine how successful the country is, the report said. Although spending on health is important, but no less important are the quality of health related services and good governance for better health outcomes.
Women’s literacy and education levels, access to clean water, improved sanitation, and basic infrastructure such as better roads also play a crucial role in improved public health.
Just a little effort can make a whole world of a difference, the report said. 14 off-track Asia-Pacific countries simply have to accelerate progress by 2 percent annually to halve the proportion of underweight children by 2015.
The full report can be downloaded here: Accelerating Equitable Achievement of the MDGs: Closing the Gaps in Health and Nutrition in Asia and the Pacific (PDF, 3.67 MB).
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Source: UNDP.
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