Health at a Glance: Asia/Pacific 2020
Measuring Progress Towards Universal Health Coverage
This sixth edition of Health at a Glance Asia/Pacific presents a set of key indicators of health status, the determinants of health, health care resources and utilisation, health care expenditure and financing and quality of care across 27 Asia-Pacific countries and territories. It also provides a series of dashboards to compare performance across countries and territories, and a thematic analysis on the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Asia/Pacific health systems. Drawing on a wide range of data sources, it builds on the format used in previous editions of Health at a Glance, and gives readers a better understanding of the factors that affect the health of populations and the performance of health systems in these countries and territories. Each of the indicators is presented in a user-friendly format, consisting of charts illustrating variations across countries and territories and over time, brief descriptive analyses highlighting the major findings conveyed by the data, and a methodological box on the definition of the indicators and any limitations in data comparability. An annex provides additional information on the demographic and economic context in which health systems operate.
Child malnutrition (including undernutrition and overweight)
National development is largely dependent on healthy and well-nourished people, but many children are not always able to access sufficient, safe and nutritious food and a balanced diet that meets their needs for optimal growth and development for an active and healthy life (UNICEF, 2019[10]). Malnutrition among children in low and middle income countries and territories encompasses both undernutrition and a growing problem with overweight and obesity. Many countries and territories are facing a double burden of malnutrition – characterised by the coexistence of undernutrition along with overweight, obesity or diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – which poses a real and growing health challenge. In order to simultaneously and synergistically address these challenges, the United Nations declared the Decade of Action on Nutrition in 2016 until 2025 and proposed actions such as strengthening sustainable, resilient food systems for healthy diets, assuring safe and supportive environments for nutrition at all ages, promoting nutrition-related education, and strengthening nutrition governance and promoting accountability (WHO, 2017[14]).
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