Human Rights in the Least Developed Countries of Asia: An Index for Quantifying Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Socioeconomics
• Development Studies

Background:

• Least Developed Countries (LDCs) face significant economic and social inequalities.
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 focuses on ensuring Good Health and Wellbeing for all.
• Disparities in health indicators persist within Asian LDCs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure disparities in SDG 3 variables among Asian LDCs.
• To identify key socioeconomic determinants of health inequalities in these regions.
• To provide a regional ordering of Asian LDCs based on SDG 3 indicators.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Pena's DP2 distance method for regional ordering.
• Constructed an index using variables linked to SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing.
• Analyzed 2018 data, integrating socioeconomic variables to assess individual indicator impacts.

Main Results:

• Identified significant spatial disparities in health and wellbeing indicators across Asian LDCs.
• "Maternal education" emerged as a critical factor influencing these disparities.
• "Proportion of women making informed decisions" and "Gender parity index in primary education" were also highly influential.

Conclusions:

• Maternal education and gender parity in primary education are paramount for addressing health disparities in Asian LDCs.
• Targeting these socioeconomic variables can effectively improve SDG 3 outcomes.
• The study provides a framework for understanding and mitigating territorial disparities in health and wellbeing.