SHAPING THE FUTURE HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CAN POWER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Immunization saves
children’s lives
and is one of the most
cost-effective
health interventions
110
policy development. Thailand has pursued a
deliberate focus on equitable access to medicine
and technologies.
Policies in areas outside but closely interrelated
with health can also make a difference
in ending disparities. Housing, drinking water
and sanitation initiatives aimed at improving
daily living conditions, for instance, can greatly
reduce infectious diseases that are more heavily
concentrated among the poor. Education,
trade, investment and employment interventions
providing equitable access to capabilities and
opportunities for well-being can also help, as
can social protection across the life cycle. There
are roles as well for promoting people’s abilities
to empower themselves and claim their rights
through political and legal instruments.
Focus investment on a healthy start in life:
Many Asia-Pacific countries, including several
in South Asia, need to invest heavily in prenatal
and postnatal care, meals at school for children
at risk of nutritional deficits, and increased
coverage of childhood vaccines and early dental
care, which influences overall health. They
need to urgently address gender discrimination,
especially in access to nutrition and health care,
from childhood on. Solutions to some of these
issues will require changes in attitudes and
behaviours that are rooted in and conditioned
by social norms as well as overall economic
conditions.
Immunization can save children’s lives
and is one of the most cost-effective health
interventions. It is an essential measure in all
countries, but carries an extra rationale in those
moving towards the start of the demographic
transition. Many countries have made progress
on delivering vaccines, yet a third or more of
the region’s children still do not receive the
full set. Coverage is low in India, Lao People’s
Democratic Republic, Papua New Guinea and
the Solomon Islands. Despite being a poor
country, Bangladesh has achieved impressive
health advances by focusing on selected core
interventions, including vaccinations, family
planning, oral rehydration therapy, and other
maternal and child health services.
Although there is no single cause for child
malnutrition in Asia-Pacific, malnutrition
among women is a major factor. A woman’s
poor health during her own infancy, childhood,
teenage and child-bearing years results in
low birth-weight children, who tend to be less
healthy and are more likely to die prematurely.
Another major factor is poor sanitation and
open defecation, which, among other impacts,
cause children to suffer from diarrhoea and
other infectious diseases that reduce the ability
to absorb adequate nutrients.
On the other end of the spectrum, developing
healthy eating and exercise habits in the
first two decades of life are key to avoiding
obesity in adulthood. Reducing foods high in
saturated fats or salt and providing opportunities
for physical activity are important for children
and adolescents, and can reduce eventual risks
of chronic and debilitating non-communicable
diseases.
Extend services to adolescents: Across the region,
a priority for adolescents, particularly in countries
with a growing youth bulge, is access to a
full array of youth-friendly health care services.
Issues related to homicide, suicide, substance
use and abuse, smoking, sexually transmitted
diseases and unplanned pregnancies are prevalent
among youth. But adolescent health care is still
at a nascent stage, and often not recognized as
part of national health strategies, at times due
to political, religious or social norms. Specific
policies for the health care of adolescents need
to be in place, coupled with expanded services
so that all adolescents can find the care they
need for sexual and reproductive health, HIV/
AIDS prevention, and alcohol and drug abuse,
among other issues. Services need to proactively
emphasize outreach and responsiveness to the
concerns of adolescents, given the social and
economic barriers that may otherwise impede
them from seeking care.
TACKLE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
An astonishing 34 percent of youth in Asia-Pacific
are neither in school nor the labour market.
99 Many face long periods of unemployment,
which may delay their options to move into adult
life, such as by starting a family, and depress
lifetime earnings. While job creation for youth
is essential, policy makers must give equal attention
to the quality of employment and the