Population, Health, and Nutrition
 A surveyor from USAID grantee Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia interviews a family about their health knowledge and behaviors in order to ensure that grant activities respond to community needs. (Photo: USAID)
ASIA BUREAU HEALTH PROGRAMS
Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Philippines, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and select non-presence countries in the Asia region
CONTACT INFORMATION
Gary Cook
Senior Health Advisor
Tel: (202) 712-0707
Email: gcook@usaid.gov
Overview
In Asia, one in 22 children dies before reaching age five and one in 553 women dies due to complications with pregnancy or childbirth. HIV infection, tuberculosis (TB), malaria, pandemic influenza, and other infectious diseases are also of increasing concern in the region. To address these problems, USAID builds capacity, strengthens systems, provides essential training, and promotes best health practices.
Programs
Keeping Mothers and Their Children Healthy
Throughout Asia, poor women without access to health care are vulnerable to complications in pregnancy and childbirth, and largely preventable conditions such as low birth weight are responsible for about 37 percent of all child deaths. In response, USAID promotes recognized approaches to delivery; antenatal, postnatal, and neonatal care; and primary health services. In Indonesia, six months after the introduction of a revised national curriculum on comprehensive emergency obstetric and neonatal care that included on-the-job training paired with competency testing and professional certification at a hospital in Jakarta, there was a 72 percent increase in deliveries at the facility. Maternal mortality was reduced from 1 death per 100 live births to 1 death per 292 live births.
Saving Lives with Family Planning
With nearly half of Asia's population in the reproductive age group and lacking family planning services, expanding access to sustainable services is critical. Innovation and partnership are key to USAID's approach to family planning in Asia. In India, in 2010, USAID applied gender-sensitive approaches that led to a 23 percent increase in men adopting family planning methods. In Nepal, application of literacy as a tool to empower women resulted in a 71 percent increase in voluntary use of contraceptives among participants.
Fighting Infectious Diseases
HIV/AIDS, TB, avian influenza, and polio continue to take an enormous human toll in Asia. The United States has made commitments of $200 million per year to fight HIV/AIDS in Asia and $64 million per year to fight TB. USAID has large pandemic influenza programs throughout the region. In 2010, USAID and other donors responded to the polio outbreak in Central Asia by training health workers and supporting community mobilization. Over 99 percent of all children under 15 years of age were immunized, reducing the chance of such an outbreak being repeated.
Reaching Across Sectors
Scientific studies about the health impacts of glacier melt are scarce. In 2010, the Asia Bureau supported research to better understand the science and implications of glacier retreat. The research reaffirms concerns that glacier melt will result in lack of access to clean water for human consumption and agriculture, which will lead to increased incidence of diarrheal disease and malnutrition.
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