Achieving the Health Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific. Policies and actions within health systems and beyond.

Enjoying good health remaining free from disease and having access to health care are basic human rights. The inclusion of health targets in the Millennium Development Goals supports the contention that good health is important for overcoming poverty and achieving the wider goal of socio-economic development. While all MDGs are in some way related to health three refer specifically to health: (a) Goal 4 reduce child mortality; (b) Goal 5 improve maternal health; and (c) Goal 6 combat HIV/ AIDS malaria and other diseases. Despite the significant improvements that have been made in income indicators over the last decade - with most countries in Asia and the Pacific having reduced the number of people below the poverty line (Goal 1 target 1) - large segments of the population in the region continue to be without access to basic services such as health care education clean water or sanitation. The ESCAP subregions offer a mixed picture: a number of countries may fail to meet one or more of the MDG health targets unless their efforts are stepped up. (excerpt)