South Asia

==Health and nutrition==
[[File:Babyimmunization.jpg|thumb|upright|Child getting vaccine in Bangladesh under the [[Expanded Programme on Immunization]] (EPI)]]

According to [[World Health Organization]] (WHO), South Asia is home to two out of the three countries in the world still affected by polio, Pakistan and Afghanistan, with 306 & 28 polio cases registered in 2014 respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.polioeradication.org/Infectedcountries/Afghanistan.aspx|title=GPEI|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706045955/http://www.polioeradication.org/Infectedcountries/Afghanistan.aspx|archive-date=6 July 2015}}</ref> Attempts to eradicate polio have been badly hit by opposition from militants in both countries, who say the program is cover to spy on their operations. Their attacks on immunization teams have claimed 78 lives since December 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1151027 |title=Lost — The battle against polio |last1=Haider |first1=Sajjad |last2=Khan |first2=Shameen |newspaper=Dawn |date=31 December 2014 |access-date=4 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605081706/http://www.dawn.com/news/1151027 |archive-date=5 June 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[World Bank]] estimates that India is one of the highest ranking countries in the world for the number of children suffering from [[malnutrition]]. The prevalence of underweight children in India is among the highest in the world and is nearly double that of [[Sub Saharan Africa]] with dire consequences for mobility, mortality, productivity, and economic growth.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,contentMDK:20916955~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:223547,00.html|title= World Bank Report|access-date= 13 March 2009|publisher= The World Bank|year= 2009|quote= World Bank Report on Malnutrition in India|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081218015506/http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20195738~menuPK:295591~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:295584,00.html|archive-date= 18 December 2008|url-status= live}}</ref>

[[File:PRT Farah visits Children's Supplemental Feeding Center in Farah City 130119-N-LR347-327.jpg|thumb|left|A weekly child examination performed at a hospital in [[Farah, Afghanistan]]]]

According to the World Bank, 64% of South Asians lived in rural areas in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Bank Open Data |url=https://data.worldbank.org/ |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=World Bank Open Data}}</ref> In 2008, about 75% of South Asia's poor lived in rural areas and most relied on agriculture for their livelihood<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/EXTSAREGTOPAGRI/0,,contentMDK:20750711~menuPK:452772~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:452766,00.html|title=Agriculture in South Asia|publisher=World Bank|access-date=21 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706154611/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/EXTSAREGTOPAGRI/0,,contentMDK:20750711~menuPK:452772~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:452766,00.html|archive-date=6 July 2008|url-status=dead }}</ref> according to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation.

In 2021, approximately 330 million people in the region were malnourished.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hunger in Asia |url=https://www.compassion.com/poverty/hunger-in-asia.htm |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=Compassion International |language=en}}</ref> A 2015 report says that Nepal reached both the WFS target as well as MDG and is moving towards bringing down the number of undernourished people to less than 5% of the population.<ref name="fao.org" /> Bangladesh reached the MDG target with the National Food Policy framework{{snd}}with only 16.5% of the population undernourished. In India, the malnourished comprise just over 15 percent of the population. While the number of malnourished people in the neighborhood has shown a decline over the last 25 years, the number of under-nourished in Pakistan displays an upward trend. There were 28.7 million hungry in Pakistan in the 1990s{{snd}}a number that has steadily increased to 41.3&nbsp;million in 2015 with 22% of the population malnourished. Approximately 194.6&nbsp;million people are undernourished in India, which accounts for the highest number of people suffering from hunger in any single country.<ref name="fao.org" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1184959|title=India home to world's largest number of hungry people: report|newspaper=Dawn|date=29 May 2015|access-date=4 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604142045/http://www.dawn.com/news/1184959|archive-date=4 June 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 2006 report stated, "the low status of women in South Asian countries and their lack of nutritional knowledge are important determinants of high prevalence of underweight children in the region". Corruption and the lack of initiative on the part of the government has been one of the major problems associated with nutrition in India. Illiteracy in villages has been found to be one of the major issues that need more government attention. The report mentioned that although there has been a reduction in malnutrition due to the [[Green Revolution]] in South Asia, there is concern that South Asia has "inadequate feeding and caring practices for young children".<ref name="southasiahunger">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6046718.stm|title='Hunger critical' in South Asia|work=BBC News|date=13 October 2006|access-date=4 January 2010|first=Geeta|last=Pandey|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112084920/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6046718.stm|archive-date=12 January 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>