Religion,Education and Health of Asia
Religion
Islam is the dominant religion in most countries of Southwest Asia and in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Large minorities of Muslims are also found elsewhere in Asia. Non-Muslims in Southwest Asia include Jews in Israel and Christians in Lebanon.
Hinduism is the chief religion of India and on the island of Java in Indonesia. Buddhism, which originated in northeastern India, has only a few adherents there but is now one of the principal religions of Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, South Korea, Vietnam, and Japan.
Buddhism was also strong in North Korea before 1948 and in Mongolia before 1929 when their Communist governments began partially suppressing religion. Although in 1992 Mongolia shifted to a democratic government that allows greater religious freedom, most Mongolians are now either nonreligious or atheists. Confucianism, which is more a social and moral code than a religion, developed in China but has been largely suppressed by the Communist government. Since the beginning of economic reforms in the 1980s, China has had increased contact with outsiders and religious and Confucian practices have also increased. Buddhist practices continued in Vietnam despite government efforts to suppress them during the 1970s and 1980s; most restrictions have since been lifted.
Japan has a native religion called Shinto. Shinto, which has been mixed with many practices of Buddhism, centers on the worship of ancestors and natural spirits. The religion formerly accepted the divinity of the Japanese emperor, but this aspect of Shinto was abandoned after the Japanese defeat in World War II (1939-1945).
Christianity, as represented by the Russian Orthodox Church, was the principal religion of Russia prior to the 1922 founding of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which dissolved in 1991. For most of its existence, the USSR’s Communist government discouraged religious practices. In 1990, however, the government lifted restrictions on religious worship and the Russian Orthodox Church reemerged as the major Christian denomination.
Roman Catholic missionaries carried Christianity to the Philippines. Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries also converted many people in Korea, Japan, India, and among the hill peoples of Myanmar.
Many groups living in remote areas of the Asian continent, such as the Karen and Shan in Myanmar, practice religions unique to their cultures. These religions can be complex, often involving practices of animism, the belief that every object has a spirit.
Religious conflicts simmer throughout Asia and add to regional insecurity. In the Middle East, peace agreements in the 1990s helped lessen the dispute between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs over the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In the mid-1990s Afghanistan was enmeshed in a civil war between fundamentalist Muslims backed by Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Arab states, and more moderate Muslims supported by Iran, Russia, India, and Tajikistan. India and Pakistan wrestle over the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, commonly known as Kashmir. India claims Kashmir on historical grounds, whereas Pakistan believes Kashmir’s Muslim population should be in an Islamic state. In Southeast Asia, the Muslim Moro people of Mindanao Island in the Philippines have long fought with the government, arguing for greater autonomy and closer links with fellow Muslims of Malaysia’s Sabah state. Although the largest rebel group and the government negotiated a peace agreement that created a Muslim autonomous region in 1996, other rebels have continued fighting. Even with the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia finds the strongly Islamic residents of Aceh at the northern end of Sumatra a source of political tensions.
Education
Millions of people throughout Asia are illiterate, which is defined as the inability of people over age 15 to write a short, simple statement about their everyday life. Although fewer than 15 percent of the people in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea are illiterate, the illiteracy rate in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Yemen is greater than 50 percent. In many areas more women than men are illiterate and sometimes the gap is very wide.
The education systems of most countries have emphasized elementary or primary school instruction. In Southeast and Southwest Asia, elementary instruction is often conducted by religious groups, such as Buddhists and Muslims. Japan, Russia, and Israel have led the development of adequate educational systems. In Japan, nine years of schooling are free and compulsory, and the country has many universities. China’s educational system concentrates on the elimination of illiteracy. India has benefited from schools and colleges that were established during the period of British rule; like China, it has stressed mass literacy.
School participation rates vary throughout Asia. In the majority of countries almost all students undertake primary school education, reflecting the priority this has generally been given by governments. There is universal primary education in China, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Myanmar. In a handful of South and Southwest Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Yemen, only 50 to 75 percent of the school-aged children are enrolled. Far fewer girls than boys attend primary school in these countries. Secondary education has lower levels of enrollment throughout Asia, and even fewer students attend institutions of higher education.
Health
Asia has some of the world’s major health problems. These are compounded by widespread ignorance of basic sanitation concepts and, in some areas, by high population densities. In Southeast, South, and Southwest Asia, subtropical and tropical climates favor the development and survival of parasites in soils, water, and hosts (insects, animals, and humans that carry the parasites). Streams are often used for sewage disposal in the southern parts of Asia. Where these same streams are also used for drinking and bathing water, they are a source of chronic infections. Sanitary conditions are improving, especially in cities, as international aid programs give high priority to health problems caused by the environment. Construction of better drinking water facilities—together with improved systems of sewage disposal, rubbish collection, and wastewater drainage—is helping create healthier settlements.
Untreated human manure is used as a fertilizer on some farms in East and Southeast Asia, contributing to the spread of disease. In recent years, sanitary practices in China have been greatly improved by first treating human manure before adding it to soils.
The major diseases of Asia include cholera, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, poliomyelitis, amebic and bacillary dysentery, and malaria. Cholera, caused by a bacterium usually transmitted through polluted water, has existed in Asia for centuries.
Elephantiasis, which is common in the tropical areas of India and China, is another disease that occurs in Asia. The parasitic worms that cause this disease are usually carried by mosquitoes, which are also the hosts of the organisms that cause malaria. Although not always successful, enormous efforts have been made to eliminate mosquitoes in many areas by the use of insecticides.
The spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome(AIDS) is a growing threat in Asia, particularly in South and Southeast Asia. Many countries do not keep accurate statistics of AIDS cases, either because they lack the health services to track the disease, or because they deny that AIDS is a significant problem. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations (UN) estimates that in the late 1990s 5.8 million people in South and Southeast Asia had AIDS or were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS.
Millions of people in Asia are infected with hookworms, which typically cause malnutrition and a lack of energy. Malnutrition itself causes diseases, including kwashiorkor, a protein deficiency that stunts the growth of children and occasionally causes their death. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has attempted to combat the problem of protein deficiency in many ways, including encouraging ocean fishing and fish farming, the use of powdered milk, and the production of milk-like products from protein-rich soybeans. The WHO has attacked the problems of health more directly: Mass inoculations and international quarantines have helped control many diseases, and smallpox has been wiped out in Asia.
The quality of health care systems varies in Asia. The most advanced systems of health delivery are found in Japan, Israel, and Russia. Singapore and Hong Kong also have good systems and a ratio, respectively, of one doctor for every 714 and 758 people. In Cambodia the impact of war and genocide has left the country with just one doctor for every 6,400 people. Countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and the Philippines have more than 5,000 people per doctor.
Many Asians seek traditional healers for treatment of a wide range of illnesses. Chinese traditional medicine is probably the best-known alternative to Western medicine. Techniques such as acupuncture, acupressure, and the use of herbal medicines are widely used by Chi
Islam is the dominant religion in most countries of Southwest Asia and in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Large minorities of Muslims are also found elsewhere in Asia. Non-Muslims in Southwest Asia include Jews in Israel and Christians in Lebanon.
Hinduism is the chief religion of India and on the island of Java in Indonesia. Buddhism, which originated in northeastern India, has only a few adherents there but is now one of the principal religions of Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, South Korea, Vietnam, and Japan.
Buddhism was also strong in North Korea before 1948 and in Mongolia before 1929 when their Communist governments began partially suppressing religion. Although in 1992 Mongolia shifted to a democratic government that allows greater religious freedom, most Mongolians are now either nonreligious or atheists. Confucianism, which is more a social and moral code than a religion, developed in China but has been largely suppressed by the Communist government. Since the beginning of economic reforms in the 1980s, China has had increased contact with outsiders and religious and Confucian practices have also increased. Buddhist practices continued in Vietnam despite government efforts to suppress them during the 1970s and 1980s; most restrictions have since been lifted.
Japan has a native religion called Shinto. Shinto, which has been mixed with many practices of Buddhism, centers on the worship of ancestors and natural spirits. The religion formerly accepted the divinity of the Japanese emperor, but this aspect of Shinto was abandoned after the Japanese defeat in World War II (1939-1945).
Christianity, as represented by the Russian Orthodox Church, was the principal religion of Russia prior to the 1922 founding of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which dissolved in 1991. For most of its existence, the USSR’s Communist government discouraged religious practices. In 1990, however, the government lifted restrictions on religious worship and the Russian Orthodox Church reemerged as the major Christian denomination.
Roman Catholic missionaries carried Christianity to the Philippines. Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries also converted many people in Korea, Japan, India, and among the hill peoples of Myanmar.
Many groups living in remote areas of the Asian continent, such as the Karen and Shan in Myanmar, practice religions unique to their cultures. These religions can be complex, often involving practices of animism, the belief that every object has a spirit.
Religious conflicts simmer throughout Asia and add to regional insecurity. In the Middle East, peace agreements in the 1990s helped lessen the dispute between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs over the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In the mid-1990s Afghanistan was enmeshed in a civil war between fundamentalist Muslims backed by Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Arab states, and more moderate Muslims supported by Iran, Russia, India, and Tajikistan. India and Pakistan wrestle over the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, commonly known as Kashmir. India claims Kashmir on historical grounds, whereas Pakistan believes Kashmir’s Muslim population should be in an Islamic state. In Southeast Asia, the Muslim Moro people of Mindanao Island in the Philippines have long fought with the government, arguing for greater autonomy and closer links with fellow Muslims of Malaysia’s Sabah state. Although the largest rebel group and the government negotiated a peace agreement that created a Muslim autonomous region in 1996, other rebels have continued fighting. Even with the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia finds the strongly Islamic residents of Aceh at the northern end of Sumatra a source of political tensions.
Education
Millions of people throughout Asia are illiterate, which is defined as the inability of people over age 15 to write a short, simple statement about their everyday life. Although fewer than 15 percent of the people in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea are illiterate, the illiteracy rate in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Yemen is greater than 50 percent. In many areas more women than men are illiterate and sometimes the gap is very wide.
The education systems of most countries have emphasized elementary or primary school instruction. In Southeast and Southwest Asia, elementary instruction is often conducted by religious groups, such as Buddhists and Muslims. Japan, Russia, and Israel have led the development of adequate educational systems. In Japan, nine years of schooling are free and compulsory, and the country has many universities. China’s educational system concentrates on the elimination of illiteracy. India has benefited from schools and colleges that were established during the period of British rule; like China, it has stressed mass literacy.
School participation rates vary throughout Asia. In the majority of countries almost all students undertake primary school education, reflecting the priority this has generally been given by governments. There is universal primary education in China, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Myanmar. In a handful of South and Southwest Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Yemen, only 50 to 75 percent of the school-aged children are enrolled. Far fewer girls than boys attend primary school in these countries. Secondary education has lower levels of enrollment throughout Asia, and even fewer students attend institutions of higher education.
Health
Asia has some of the world’s major health problems. These are compounded by widespread ignorance of basic sanitation concepts and, in some areas, by high population densities. In Southeast, South, and Southwest Asia, subtropical and tropical climates favor the development and survival of parasites in soils, water, and hosts (insects, animals, and humans that carry the parasites). Streams are often used for sewage disposal in the southern parts of Asia. Where these same streams are also used for drinking and bathing water, they are a source of chronic infections. Sanitary conditions are improving, especially in cities, as international aid programs give high priority to health problems caused by the environment. Construction of better drinking water facilities—together with improved systems of sewage disposal, rubbish collection, and wastewater drainage—is helping create healthier settlements.
Untreated human manure is used as a fertilizer on some farms in East and Southeast Asia, contributing to the spread of disease. In recent years, sanitary practices in China have been greatly improved by first treating human manure before adding it to soils.
The major diseases of Asia include cholera, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, poliomyelitis, amebic and bacillary dysentery, and malaria. Cholera, caused by a bacterium usually transmitted through polluted water, has existed in Asia for centuries.
Elephantiasis, which is common in the tropical areas of India and China, is another disease that occurs in Asia. The parasitic worms that cause this disease are usually carried by mosquitoes, which are also the hosts of the organisms that cause malaria. Although not always successful, enormous efforts have been made to eliminate mosquitoes in many areas by the use of insecticides.
The spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome(AIDS) is a growing threat in Asia, particularly in South and Southeast Asia. Many countries do not keep accurate statistics of AIDS cases, either because they lack the health services to track the disease, or because they deny that AIDS is a significant problem. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations (UN) estimates that in the late 1990s 5.8 million people in South and Southeast Asia had AIDS or were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS.
Millions of people in Asia are infected with hookworms, which typically cause malnutrition and a lack of energy. Malnutrition itself causes diseases, including kwashiorkor, a protein deficiency that stunts the growth of children and occasionally causes their death. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has attempted to combat the problem of protein deficiency in many ways, including encouraging ocean fishing and fish farming, the use of powdered milk, and the production of milk-like products from protein-rich soybeans. The WHO has attacked the problems of health more directly: Mass inoculations and international quarantines have helped control many diseases, and smallpox has been wiped out in Asia.
The quality of health care systems varies in Asia. The most advanced systems of health delivery are found in Japan, Israel, and Russia. Singapore and Hong Kong also have good systems and a ratio, respectively, of one doctor for every 714 and 758 people. In Cambodia the impact of war and genocide has left the country with just one doctor for every 6,400 people. Countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and the Philippines have more than 5,000 people per doctor.
Many Asians seek traditional healers for treatment of a wide range of illnesses. Chinese traditional medicine is probably the best-known alternative to Western medicine. Techniques such as acupuncture, acupressure, and the use of herbal medicines are widely used by Chi
Traditionally, philanthropy takes place within family and neighborhoods. Individuals involved in family philanthropic activities are usually self-organized while village philanthropy, usually aimed at creating or protecting public goods, are more organized. Besides these culture-based philanthropic activities, religion-based philanthropy is also widely practiced in Indonesia.The Education Office responded to this proposal by instituting a project, with the International Consultancy on Religion Education and Culture in Manchester, England.
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