Southeast Asia's 600 million people are facing a raft of new health challenges as the disaster-prone region undergoes some of the world's fastest social change, medical papers published Tuesday said. "A health crisis is transpiring right before our eyes," warned a paper in the series, published by The Lancet journal, which said chronic diseases such as cancer now account for 60 percent of deaths in the region.
It was also dubbed a "hotspot" for emerging and difficult-to-control infectious diseases, with outbreaks in avian flu fuelling fears about the possibility of new pandemics spreading from Southeast Asia. "The pace of demographic change in the region is one of the fastest world-wide, whether it is due to population ageing, fertility decline, or rural to urban migration," said the papers.
"As elsewhere, the disease burden continues to shift from infectious to chronic diseases, yet increased urban population density has created concerns about emerging infectious diseases." The reports also point to Southeast Asia being one of the world's most disaster-prone regions, with the environment responsible for up to a quarter of all deaths in an area regularly hit by monsoons and typhoons.