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(Circulation. 1996;94:2671-2673.)
© 1996 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

The Modernization of Asia

Implications for Coronary Heart Disease

Edward D. Janus, MD; Alfredo Postiglione, MD; Ram B. Singh, MD; Barry Lewis, MD; on behalf of the Council on Arteriosclerosis of the International Society and Federation of Cardiology

the Clinical Biochemistry Unit (E.D.J.), The University of Hong Kong; Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (A.P.), "Federico II" University of Naples, Italy; Medical Hospital and Research Centre (R.B.S.), Moradabad, India; and University of London (B.L.), UK.

Correspondence to Alfredo Postiglione, MD, Chairman, ISFC Council on Arteriosclerosis, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, "Federico II" University of Naples, via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy.

	Introduction

 
Some 50% of the world's population resides in Asia, including 1000 million in China, a similar number in the Indian subcontinent, and >200 million in Indonesia. This region is undergoing unprecedented economic growth, rapid technological changes, urbanization, and major changes in lifestyle. The very high CHD death rates in Singapore (the most economically developed country in the region), which are similar to those of the United States and Australia, provide a warning that Asia may expect a surge in CHD.^{1 2 3} The dramatic rise in CHD experienced in eastern Europe must be prevented in Asia.

To achieve acceptable and effective CHD prevention programs requires a thorough knowledge of the region, recognizing in particular the diversity of its countries. These range in size from compact urbanized places (Singapore and Hong Kong) to vast countries such as India and China, each with marked regional differences. The demography is equally varied: in the Philippines, for example, 60% of the population are younger than 19 years, whereas in Japan and Hong Kong, there is an increasing proportion of elderly people, and life expectancies at birth are among the longest in the world, eg, 75.1 years for men and 80.3 years for women in Hong Kong in 1993.⁴ The degree of economic development varies greatly. It is advanced in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore and is changing rapidly in China, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and India. Nearby Australia and New Zealand, with predominantly Caucasian populations, are increasingly economically interdependent with Asia. They have achieved . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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