Why a special issue of the BMJ on South Asia?

doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7421.941

BMJ 2003;327:941-942 (25 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7421.941

Editorial

Why a special issue of the BMJ on South Asia?

What religion and nationalism have divided, health can unite

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

"South Asia is fast emerging as the poorest, the most illiterate,the most malnourished, the least gender-sensitive—indeed,the most deprived region in the world. Yet it continues to makemore investment in arms than in the health and education ofits people!"

Mahbub ul Haq, former Pakistani minister of finance and planning¹

South Asia has some of the worst health indicators in the wholeof Asia and the world.² Almost 40% of the total global burdenof mortality in children under 5 years occurs in its four largestcountries.³ About 70% of the world's low birth weight infantsare in South Asia.⁴ Major inequities exist in the provisionof health care and public services.^5
6 The region has also experiencedvirtually continuous conflict and disorder.⁷ All of this againstthe backdrop of developments in many fields, some of questionablevalue. India leads most of the world in information technologybut together . . . [Full text of this article]

Zulfiqar Bhutta, Husein Lalji Dewraj professor of paediatrics and child health

Aga Khan University, Karachi 74800, Pakistan (zulfiqar.bhutta@aku.edu)

Samiran Nundy, consultant gastrointestinal surgeon

Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi 110016, India (snundy@hotmail.com)

Kamran Abbasi, deputy editor

BMJ, London WC1H 9JR (kabbasi@bmj.com)

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This article has been cited by other articles:

Varatharajan, D (2004). Special issue on South Asia: Health economics is neglected in this region. BMJ 328: 288-288 [Full text]
Singh, S. (2004). Special issue on South Asia: Focus will be an eye opener. BMJ 328: 288-288 [Full text]

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