Generally, progress towards the MDGs has been mixed across the region. Since 1990, there has been tremendous economic growth. Extreme poverty has dramatically declined, child mortality has been reduced and the fight against tuberculosis has made great strides forward. One or two targets, such as that for malaria, have already even been met.
Yet rates of progress for other targets have been slow, such as those for sanitation or maternal and child mortality. In nearly all countries, the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to grow, not reverse, with ample room for expansion. And there are still some 700 million people in Asia and the Pacific living on $1 or less a day and lack access to basic services.
Moreover, there are great inequalities between countries and within countries, where there are often large disparities between the rich and poor, men and women, urban and rural or different ethnic groups. For example, the western provinces of China have a very different health status from the eastern provinces.
For more information on progress, please see: