Yes, if we can replicate the models of Kerala and Sri Lanka

Two years turned the Indian subcontinent into South Asia. Between 14 August 1947 and 4 February 1948, India, Pakistan (its eastern part would later become Bangladesh), and Sri Lanka all gained independence from the British Empire. Amid the optimism of independence, the new states were comparable in population health and development indicators. Their progress since has been different.

This issue of the BMJ maps out the extent of the region's myriad difficulties. Non-communicable and communicable diseases ravage South Asia (see pp 781, 794, 807, 811). Tobacco and pharmaceutical industries are exploiting weak legislation to nurture new markets (pp 778, 780, 801). There is little pride in the progress of surgery (p 782), health research (p 826), or postgraduate education (p 779). Yet one challenge dwarfs all these: the desperate state of maternal and child health. Several articles reinforce the message that the scale of morbidity and mortality caused by neglect of mothers and children …