Life expectancy at birth is a general measure of a population’s health status, and is often used to gauge the development of a country’s health. Life expectancy at birth continues to rise in Asia and the Pacific, averaging about 74.2 years in 2016 up from 69.4 years in 2000 (). Since 2000 the largest increases in life expectancy were recorded for Cambodia (11.7 years), Lao PDR, and Nepal (7.7 years). This rapid growth is related to a number of factors, including rising living standards, better nutrition, water and sanitation, increased education and greater access to health services. Nevertheless, despite the significant increase, life expectancy in the Asia/Pacific still lags behind other world regions except Africa (UN World Population Prospects data, 2017).

Infant mortality – death among children not yet one year of age, reflects the effect of economic, social and environmental conditions on the health of mothers and infants, as well as the effectiveness of health systems. Child mortality – death among children not yet 5 years of age an indicator of child health as well as the overall development and well‐being of a population. As part of their Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations has set a target of reducing under age 5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1 000 live births by 2030 (United Nations 2015).

National development is largely dependent on healthy and well-nourished people. However, there are many children who are not always able to access sufficient, safe, nutritious food and a balanced diet that meets their needs for optimal growth and development. Poor nutrition in utero and early childhood often results in stunting which refers to a child who is too short for his or her age. Similarly wasting, a child who is too thin for his or her height, is usually the result form a poor diet and/or disease. Stunting and wasting often lead to noticeable educational and economic disadvantages that could last a lifetime and affect the next generation (UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group 2018). On the other end, overweight or obese children, too heavy for his or her height, are at greater risk of poor health and reduced quality of life in adolescence and in adulthood. The UN SDG target 2.2 involves “ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age”.

Financial resources for health are unevenly distributed geographically. Australia and Japan have higher health expenditure per capita than the OECD average (USD 3715, 2015), while most of Asia/Pacific economies spend less than the Asia/Pacific average (USD 1 120). On average across the Asia/Pacific, two thirds of health expenditure is financed by governments or compulsory insurance schemes, and the rest is financed from voluntary schemes or concerns patients’ out-of-pocket expenses (). More than three‐quarters of total health expenditure in Brunei Darussalam, Japan, New Zealand, and Thailand were financed publicly in 2015, while in countries with a lower GDP per capita such as Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Nepal three-quarters of total health expenditure were financed privately.

Hospitals in most countries account for the largest part of overall fixed health investment. It is important to use resources efficiently and assure a co-ordinated access to hospital care: the number of hospital beds, hospital discharge rates and the average length of stay (ALOS) are among the indicators used to assess available resources and access in general.