This book brings together new studies on regional disparities in the provision and maintenance of health in Asia. Specifically, the individual chapters shed light on the various health challenges that Asian regions face with regard to environmental health, communicable and non-communicable diseases, reproductive health, and the development of health systems. The book departs from the existing literature on this subject in three ways. First, it explicitly recognizes that health is essential to the daily lives of human beings. Second, it underscores the fact that good health improves learning, employee productivity, and incomes. Third, the book demonstrates the ways in which an understanding of the preceding two points contributes to our grasp of economic growth and development.

Because Asia is now the fastest-growing and most dynamic continent in the world, the respective chapters provide practical guidance concerning two key questions: First, how do we effectively address the health challenges in individual regions of Asia? Second, how do we ensure that the proposed health interventions lead to sustainable economic growth and development? To this end, the book emphasizes modeling and illustrates the role that sound empirical modeling can play in developing measures that sustainably address the health challenges confronting disparate Asian regions. All chapters were written by international experts who are active researchers in their respective fields. Hence, this book is highly recommended to all readers seeking an in-depth and up-to-date perspective on some of the most important issues at the interface of human health and regional growth and development in Asia.

Amitrajeet A. Batabyal is an Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He obtained a B.S. in Applied Economics and Business Management from Cornell University in 1987, an M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1990, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1994. He was the recipient of the Geoffrey J. D. Hewings Award from the North American Regional Science Council in 2003, the Moss Madden Memorial Medal from the British and Irish Section of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) in 2004, and the Mattei Dogan Foundation Prize from the International Social Science Council in 2013. He is an Honorary Member of the RSAI's Japan Section and a Fellow of the Regional Studies Association.

Peter Nijkamp is an Emeritus Professor of Regional and Urban Economics and Economic Geography at VU University in Amsterdam. He is currently affiliated with the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan (Poland) and the Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS). He serves on the editorial/advisory boards of more than 20 scientific journals. According to the RePec list, he belongs to the top 25 best-known economists worldwide. He is also a fellow and past vice-president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the most prestigious scientific prize in the Netherlands, the Spinoza award, and has authored over 2,000 articles and books. He has not only been involved in academic research, but also in many practical policy issues in the field of decision-making, regional development, environmental management, governance of culture, transportation and communication, and advanced data analytics.