Burden of infectious diseases in South Asia

Introduction

Preventable infections are a major cause of deaths and disabilities in South Asia. Over two thirds of the estimated 3.7 million deaths in children in South Asia in the year 2000 were attributable to infections such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, and measles.1 2 India now has the second largest population with AIDS and HIV infection in the world, and tuberculosis and chronic hepatitis continue to threaten the lives of millions. Of the overall burden of deaths related to infectious disease in the region, around 63% are in children aged under 5 years.3 Serious effort should be devoted to the control of infectious disease if South Asian countries are to meet their millennium development goal of two thirds reduction in child mortality by 2015.

Sri Lanka alone among South Asian countries has made remarkable progress in reducing the burden of infectious disease, despite civil war and meagre resources.

This review describes the burden of infectious diseases of public health importance in South Asia, the underlying risk factors, and strategies to improve detection and control.

Sources and selection criteria

We searched PubMed and the databases of the World Health Organization and Unicef for information on infectious diseases of public health importance in South Asia. We also reviewed the bibliographies of key references and reviews for relevant information.

Risk factors for disease and death

People in South Asia are at a higher risk of developing infectious diseases and dying from their illness than people in industrialised countries.3 The root causes are poverty and its associated problems of unhygienic living conditions, malnutrition, illiteracy, and poor access to clean water, toilet facilities, …