Health

Unprecedented chronic disease growth in Southeast Asia

Chronic disease could kill up to 4.2 million people annually in Southeast Asia by the year 2030, according to new research published in the UK medical journal, The Lancet. More than 2.5 million people died from chronic diseases in the region in 2005, 30 percent of whom were 15-59 years old. Diabetes and obesity cases quadrupled from 1970 to 2005, twice the rate of the United States in the same time period, according to the report.

Published

10 years ago

February 14, 2011

Fang Zhang

Chronic disease could kill up to 4.2 million people annually in Southeast Asia by the year 2030, according to new research published in the UK medical journal, The Lancet.

More than 2.5 million people died from chronic diseases in the region in 2005, 30 percent of whom were 15-59 years old. Diabetes and obesity cases quadrupled from 1970 to 2005, twice the rate of the United States in the same time period, according to the report.

Chronic non-communicable diseases can no longer be perceived as diseases of affluence, with most of the deaths reported in poorer countries, including Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, said report author and social epidemiologist at the US-based China Medical Board, Rebecca Firestone.

“What we [are seeing] is a changing face of non-communicable disease from one that affects the affluent to one that affects the poor middle-aged,” said Antonio Dans, professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, speaking from the World Health Organization Second Global Forum on Human Resources for Health in Bangkok.

dm/pt/mw

Theme (s):

Health & Nutrition,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

See more here:
In Brief: “Unprecedented” chronic disease growth in Southeast Asia

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AstraZeneca Approves Thailand’s Vaccine Factory

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2 months ago

March 18, 2021

National News Bureau of Thailand

BANGKOK (NNT) – AstraZeneca has approved safety standards at Thailand’s vaccine factory and will send the first batch of raw materials for vaccine production in June.

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Health

Skin-lightening products market to reach US$31 billion by 2024

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2 months ago

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Has Covid-19 prompted the Belt and Road Initiative to go green?

Published

2 months ago

March 3, 2021

Oxford Business Group

Has Covid-19 prompted the Belt and Road Initiative to go green?

– Covid-19 led to a slowdown in BRI projects
– Chinese overseas investment dropped off in 2020
– Government remains committed to the wide-ranging infrastructure programme
– Sustainability, health and digital to be the new cornerstones of the initiative

Following a year of coronavirus-related disruptions, China appears to be placing a greater focus on sustainable, digital and health-related projects in its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

As OBG outlined in April last year, the onset of Covid-19 prompted questions about the future direction of the BRI.

Launched in 2013, the BRI is an ambitious international initiative that aims to revive ancient Silk Road trade routes through large-scale infrastructure development.

By the start of 2020 some 2951 BRI-linked projects – valued at a total of $3.9trn – were planned or under way across the world.

However, as borders closed and lockdowns were imposed, progress stalled on a number of major BRI infrastructure developments.

In June China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 30-40% of BRI projects had been affected by the virus, while a further 20% had been “seriously affected”. Restrictions on the flow of Chinese workers and construction supplies were cited as factors behind project suspensions or slowdowns in Pakistan, Cambodia and Indonesia, among other countries.