South-East Asia
As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), the South-East Asia Region (WHO/SEARO) comprises 11 countries stretching from India to Indonesia and including the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPR Korea or North Korea).
This region is characterized by extreme diversity in size and population of individual countries (e.g., India, with more than 1 billion people, to the Maldives, with a population of 298,000). Economic development is equally diverse, (e.g., Thailand with a per capita income of $2,548 versus $477 in DPR Korea).
There are also major differences in the types of diseases that affect people in the region, the capacity of a countriy to respond to health challenges, and the current status and future trends in health/health care. Moreover, some of the countries in this region are prone to severe natural disasters (earthquakes, floods) leading to additional health and survival challenges.
Countries With NIAID-Funded Activities
Additional countries where NIAID is conducting and supporting research will continue to be added. This information is not meant to be a complete list of NIAID research and NIAID-sponsored activities. It is intended to serve as an overview.
Research Focus
NIAID is currently funding research activities in four countries in the South-East Asia Region: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Thailand. Until recently, NIAID also supported research in Nepal and Sri Lanka. In Nepal, NIAID sponsored a clinical trial toward the successful development of a safe and effective hepatitis E vaccine. NIAID has also established an International Center of Excellence in Research (ICER) in Chennai, India.
NIAID’s priorities for research in this region include HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), malaria, and emerging diseases such as avian influenza.
- HIV/AIDS is having an increasingly devastating effect in countries such as India and Timor-Leste, and to a lesser extent in Thailand and Bangladesh. NIAID supports HIV/AIDS research in India (particularly vaccine development), Indonesia, Myanmar, and Thailand where the Institute is co-sponsoring a major Phase III HIV/vaccine trial.
- Tuberculosis (TB) is widely prevalent, with the highest prevalence in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and DPR Korea. These high rates raise concerns for the emergence of multidrug-resistant TB and extensively drug-resistant TB. TB is less of a problem in Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand. However, currently there is no NIAID-funded research on TB in this region.
- Malaria remains a major problem, particularly in Bhutan, Indonesia, and DPR Korea, and is especially serious in pregnant women and children under age 5. (Although it is still found in Thailand, it causes few deaths there.) NIAID supports major malaria research programs in India, Indonesia, and Thailand, especially on vaccine development, drug resistance, and anemia.
- Avian influenza is an emerging threat, with Indonesia currently reporting the largest number of cumulative human cases and deaths worldwide, as confirmed by WHO. NIAID is partnering with WHO, Oxford University, the Wellcome Trust, and others in the Southeast Asia Influenza Clinical Research Network (SEA ICRN) to conduct influenza research in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, and the United States. NIAID has also awarded a contract to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, to establish a Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance that will conduct basic influenza research and animal surveillance in Indonesia, Thailand, and Hong Kong/China.
In this region, NIAID has also funded research related to major endemic diseases such as amebiasis and cholera (Bangladesh), filariasis (India and Thailand), helminths (Nepal), rotavirus (India), hepatitis C (Thailand) and E (Bangladesh), and dengue fever (Sri Lanka).
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