Comparsion Of the Life Expectancy between the SAARC countries

PROJECT OF POPULATION STUDY

A COMPARISON OF LIFE EXPECTENCIES BETWEEN SAARC COUNTRIES.

SUBMITTED TO:

MISS SADIA QAMAR

SUBMITTED BY:

HIBA QAISAR (04)

IQRA TANVEER (05)

ANWAR UL HAQ (28)

IRFAN HUSSAIN (39)

SESSION 2011-2015

Department of Statistics

UNIVERSITY OF SARGODHA, SRAGODHA.

Abstract

Life Expectancy is number of years a person is expected to live and is the hot stack issue in

whole world. The current study has been designed to evaluate the life expectancies among

SAARC countries. For this purpose SAARC country life expectancy data is collected from

World Bank. Simple bar charts were used to expose the comparison among SAARC

countries. Different factors influence on SAARC countries was also studied. The result shows

that Srilanka has larger life expectancy than other SAARC countries. Maldives rank is

second. We concluded that Sri Lanka has achieved a number of noteworthy successes in the

area of health security, Infant mortality and fertility rates have dramatically declined, and life

expectancy has increased than other SAARC countries.

Keywords: GDP, Mortality rate, Birth rate, Fertility rate, SAARC countries, Health

facilities.

Introduction

With respect to demography the scientific study of human populations primarily with respect to their size, their structure and change in their size is called populations study. For example size of population of Pakistan, how many people are economically active (male and female), educated or uneducated, age wise categories, single, married, divorced, or separated.

Life expectancy can be defined as the number of years a person is expected to live or the average period that a person mayexpected to live.

Life expectancy varies by geographical area and by era. In the Bronze Age, for example, life expectancy’s was 26 years, while in 2010, it was 67 years.

Different countries have different life expectancies through all over the world. Life expectancies differ in figures relating to region because of regional factors. The life expectancy for a particular person or population group depends on several variables such as their lifestyle, access to healthcare, diet, economical status and the relevant mortality and

morbidity data. However, as life expectancy is calculated based on averages, a person may live for many years more or less than expected.

The terms “life expectancy” and “lifespan” describe two distinctly different things, although people tend to use these terms interchangeably.

Life expectancy refers to the number of years a person is expected to live, based on the statistical average. This statistical average is calculated based on a population overall, including those who die shortly during childbirth, shortly after childbirth, during adolescence or adulthood, those who die in war and those who live well into old age.

Lifespan, on the other hand, refers to the maximum number of years that a person can potentially expect to live based on the greatest number of years anyone from the same data set has lived. Taking humans as the example, the oldest documented age reached by any living individual is 122 years, meaning humans are said to have a lifespan of 122 years.

A number of factors influence life expectancy including gender, race, exposure to pollution, education status, race, income level and healthcare access. Modifiable lifestyle factors such as exercise, alcohol status, smoking status and diet also influence life expectancy. Therefore, life expectancy is highly variable from one individual to another. However, epidemiologist and statisticians still note trends and patterns in terms of life expectancy across data sets obtained for various geographical areas.

SAARC

The idea of regional cooperation in South Asia was first raised in November 1980. After

consultations, the foreign secretaries of the seven founding countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan,

India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka)met for the first time in Colombo in April

1981. This was followed a few months later by a meeting of the Committee of the Whole,

which identified five broad areas for regional cooperation. The foreign ministers, at their first

meeting in New Delhi in August 1983, adopted the Declaration on South Asian Association

for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and formally launched, in 2005, Afghanistan became a

member. The Integrated Program of Action (IPA) in the five agreed areas of cooperation.

Agriculture

Rural development

Telecommunications

Meteorology

Health and population activities.

Later, transport; postal services; scientific and technological cooperation; and sports, arts,

and culture were added to the IPA.

Secretaries General of SAARC are: AbulAhsan January 16, 1987 to 15 October 1989, Kant

Kishore Bhargava October 17, 1989 to December 31,1991, Ibrahim Hussain Zaki January 1,

1992 to December 31, 1993, Yadav Kant Silwal January 1, 1994 to December 31, 1995,

Naeem U. Hasan January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1998, Nihal Rodrigo January 1, 1999 to

January 10, 2002, Q.A.M.A. Rahim January 11, 2002 to February 28, 2005, Lyonpo

Chenkyab Dorji March 1, 2005 to February 29, 2008, Sheel Kant Sharma March 1, 2008 to

present.

The geographical and climate features of all these countries are common. It was established

to work together for the betterment of this region and to remove the conflicts between these

countries, especially between Pakistan and India. So for the social and economic

development SAARC was established. One of the objectives of the SAARC was “to promote

the welfare of the peoples of SOUTH ASIA and to improve their quality of life” from article

I.

After the United States and China the combined economy of SAARC is the 3rd largest in the

world in the terms of GDP, and 5th largest in the terms of nominal GDP. SAARC nations

comprise 3% of the world's area and contain 21% (around 1.7 billion) of the world's total

population and around 9.12% of Global economy as of 2015. India makes up over 70% of the

area and population among these eight nations. All non-Indian member states except

Afghanistan share borders with India but only two other members, Pakistan and Afghanistan,

have a border with each other. During 2005-10, the average GDP growth rate of SAARC

stood at an impressive 8.8% p.a., but it slowed to 6.5% in 2011 largely because of economic

slowdown in India, which accounts for nearly 80% of SAARC's economy. But driven by a

strong expansion in India, coupled with favorable oil prices, from the last quarter of 2014

South Asia once again become the fastest-growing region in the world.

SAACR Countries Demography

Country Population Growth Rate (%) CBR CDR TFR

Pakistan 196,174,380 1.49 23.19 6.58 2.86

Bangladesh 166,280,712 1.6 21.61 5.64 2.45

Bhutan 733,643 1.13 18.12 6.78 2.02

India 1,236,344,631 1.25 19.89 7.35 2.51

Nepal 30,986,975 1.82 21.07 6.62 2.3

Sri Lanka 21,866,445 0.86 16.24 6.06 2.13

Maldives 393,595 -0.09 15.59 3.84 1.76

Afghanistan 31,822,848 2.29 38.84 14.12 5.43

Male L.E Female L.E H.E% P.D HBD L.E

65.16 69.03 2.5 0.81 0.6 67.05

68.75 72.63 3.7 0.36 0.6 70.65

68.06 69.95 4.1 0.07 1.8 68.98

66.68 69.06 3.9 0.65 0.9 67.8

65.88 68.56 5.4 0.21 4.7 67.19

72.85 79.99 3.4 0.49 3.1 76.35

72.86 77.55 8.5 1.6 4.3 75.15

49.17 51.88 9.6 0.19 0.4 50.49

PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN became an independent state in 1947; in population ranking it has 7 th position,

and it has population of 196,174,380 people.

Birth rate in Pakistan is 23.19 births/1,000 population, and its hold 70 th position in world

ranking. Death rate in Pakistan is 6.58 deaths/1,000 population, and it stands at 146 th position

in country comparison to the world. 36.2% of total population is urban population, and

annual rate of urbanization is 2.68%. Maternal mortality rate (MMR) of Pakistan is 260

deaths/100000 live births, and it is 44th position in country comparison to the world. Infant

mortality rate (IMR) of Pakistan is total 57.48 deaths/1000 live births. It has position of 25 in

country comparison to the world.

In Pakistan the total life expectancy (L.E) at birth is 67.05 years, and its rank is 167 in

country comparison, thelife expectancy of male is 65.16 years and life expectancyof female is

69.03 years. Total fertility rate of Pakistan is 2.86 children born/woman, and it contain 63th

position in country comparison to the world. Contraceptive prevalence rate was estimated is

2008 that was 27%. Pakistan spends 2.5% of total GDP on health expenditures, and its rank is

185 in country comparison to the world. Pakistan has physician’s density of 0.81

physicians/1,000 population.Hospital bed density of Pakistan is 0.6 beds/1,000

population.People affected by HIV/AIDS are approximately 86,700, its rank is 47 in country

comparison to the world, and HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate is 0.1% in Pakistan and its

rank is 166. In 2012 3,500 deaths occur because of HIV/AIDS.Major infectious diseases are

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, B and C, and typhoid fever.

Vector borne diseases are dengue fever and malaria. Animal contact disease is rabies.

Children under the age of 5 years and are underweight are 30.9% of total children population.

Pakistan spends 2.1% of its total GDP on education expenditures, and is has 54.9% literacy

rate. From which 68.6% are male and 40.3% are female. School life expectancy of Pakistan is

8 years; male school life expectancy is 8 years and female school life expectancy is 7 years.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh came into existence in 1971. It has population of 166,280,712 and its rank is 9 in

world population countries. Median age of Bangladesh is 24.3 years. The male median age is

23.8 years and female median age is 24.8 years. It has 1.6% population growth rate with 77 th

rank. Birth rate of Bangladesh is 21.61 births/1000 populationand it has 76 th position in

country comparison to the world. Death rate is 5.64 deaths/1000 populations, and it has 174th

position in country comparison to the world. Maternal mortality rate (MMR) of Bangladesh is

240 deaths/100,000 live births; it has 49th position in the country comparison to the world.

Infant mortality rate (IMR) of Bangladesh is total 45.76 deaths/1000 live births.

In Bangladesh the total life expectancy (L.E) at birth is total population is 70.65 years, and it

has country comparison, the male life expectancy is 68.75 years and female life expectancy is

72.63 years. Bangladesh has total fertility rate of 2.45 children born/woman; it has 83 th

position in country comparison to the world. Bangladesh spends 3.7% of its total GDP on

health expenditures, and has 174th position in country comparison to the world. Physician’s

density is 0.36 physicians/1,000 population. Hospital bed density is 0.6 beds/1,000

population. People affected by HIV/AIDS are approximately 8,000, it has rank of 113 in and

HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate is 0.1% and it holds 126th position in country comparison to

the world.In 2012, 400 deaths occur because of HIV/AIDS.

Major infectious diseases are food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea,

hepatitis A, B andC, and typhoid fever. Vector borne diseases: dengue fever and malaria are

high risks in some locations. Water contact disease is leptospirosis and animal contact disease

is rabies. School life expectancy of Bangladesh is 10 years, male school life expectancy is 10

years and female school life expectancy is also 10 years.

Bhutan

Bhutan has total population of 733,643 and it has 166th position in country comparison to the

world. Median age of Bhutan is 26.2 years; male median age is 26.8 years and female median

age is 25.6 years. Population growth rate is 1.13% and it has 106th rank in country

comparison to the world. It has birth rate of 18.12 births/1,000 population and it has 106 th

position is world ranking. Death rate is 6.78 deaths/1,000 populations, and it has 140th

position in country comparison to the world. Maternal mortality rate (MMR) of Bhutan 180

deaths/100,000 live births, and it has 59th position in country comparison to the world. Infant

mortality rate (IMR) is total 37.89 deaths/1,000 live births and it has 60th position in country

comparison to the world. The male infant mortality rate (IMR) is 38.34 deaths/1,000 live

births and female infant mortality rate (IMR) is 37.42 deaths/1,000 live births. Bhutan has life

expectancy of 68.98 years and it has 157th position in country comparison to the world. Male

life expectancy is 68.06 years and female life expectancy is 69.95 years. Total fertility rate

(TFR) is 2.02 children born/woman and it has 121 th position in country comparison to the

world. Bhutan spends 4.1% of its total GDP on health expenditures, and it has 162th position

in country comparison to the world. It has physicians’ density of 0.07 physicians/1,000

population. Bhutan has hospital bed density of 1.8 beds/1,000 population.

1100 people are affected by HIV/AIDS and it has 143th position in world ranking. Major

infectious diseases are food or waterborne diseases are bacterial and diarrhea, hepatitis A, and

typhoid fever. Vector borne diseases are dengue fever and malaria. School life expectancy of

Bhutan is 13 years. Male school life expectancy is 13 years and female school life expectancy

is also 13 year.

INDIA

The total population of the India is 1,236,344,631. The median age of India is 27 years, male

median age is 26.4 years and female median age is 27.7 years. Birth rate of India is 19.89

births/1,000 populations, and it has 86th position in world ranking. Death rate of India is 7.35

deaths/1,000 populations; it has 118th position in world ranking. Life expectancy of India

is 67.8 years, and it has 163th position in world ranking. The male life expectancy is 66.68

years and female life expectancy is 69.06 years. 135,500 people are affected by HIV/AID in

every year and it has 3rd position in world ranking. India spends 3.9% of its total GDP on

health expenditures and it has 167th position in world ranking. India has population growth

rate of 1.25% and it has 94th position in world ranking. It has physician’s density of 0.65

physicians/1,000 populations. Major infectious diseases are categories as, food or waterborne

diseases are bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, B & c, and typhoid fever. Vector borne diseases

are dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis and malaria, water contact disease is leptospirosis,

animal contact disease is rabies. School life expectancy of India is 12 years. The school life

expectancy of male is 12 years and female school life expectancy is 11 years.

Nepal

Nepal has the population of 30,986,975 and in population ranking is position is 42. Median

age is 22.9 years, male median age is 22.2 years and female median age is 23.6 years.

Population growth rate is 1.82% and it has 66 th position in country comparison to the world.

Birth rate of Nepal is 21.07 births/1,000 populations and it has 79th position in country

comparison to the world. Death rate is 6.62 deaths/1,000 populationand it has 144 th position

in country comparison to the world. Maternal mortality rate (MMR) is 170 deaths/100,000

live births and it has 60th position in country comparison to the world. Total infant mortality

rate (IMR) is 40.43 deaths/1,000 live births and it has 53th position in country comparison to

the world male infant mortality rate (IMR) is 40.5 deaths/1,000 live births and femaleinfant

mortality rate (IMR) is 40.35 deaths/1,000 live births. Total life expectancy at birth (LEB) is

67.19 years and it has 165th position in country comparison to the world male life expectancy

at birth (LEB) is 65.88 years and female life expectancy at birth (LEB) is 68.56 years. Total

fertility rate (TFR) is 2.3 children born/woman and it has 93th position in country comparison

to the world. Contraceptive prevalence rate is 49.7%. Nepal spends 5.4% of its GDP on

health expenditures. Physicians density is 0.21 physicians/1,000 population. Hospital bed

density is 4.7 beds/1,000 population.

People living with HIV/AIDS were 48,700 estimated in 2012 and it has 61th position in

country comparison to the world. Deaths because of HIV/AIDS were 4,100 in 2012. Major

infectious diseases are food or waterborne diseases are bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, B and

C and typhoid fever. Vector borne diseases are Japanese encephalitis, malaria, and dengue

fever. Total school life expectancy is 12 years. The male school life expectancy is 12 years

and female school life expectancy is 13 years.

Sri Lanka

The total population of the Sri Lanka is 21,866,445 and it stands at 78 th position in world

population ranking. The median age of Sri Lanka total is 31.8 years, median age of male is

30.6 years and median female age is 32.9 years. Birth rate of Sri Lanka is 16.24 births/1,000

populations and it has 122th position in world ranking. Death rate is 6.06 deaths/1,000

populations and it has 163th position in world ranking. The life expectancy of Sri Lanka

is 76.35 years, and it stands as 83th position in world ranking. The male life expectancy is

72.85 years and female life expectancy is 79.99 years. 3,000 people affected by HIV/AID,

and it has 134th position in world ranking. Sri Lanka spends 3.4% of its total GDP on health

expenditures 3.4% of GDP and it has 177th position in world ranking. Sri Lanka has

physician’s density of 0.49 physicians/1,000 population. Major infectious diseases are food or

waterborne diseases bacterial which are as “diarrhea and hepatitis”. A vector borne diseases

is dengue fever. Water contact disease is leptospirosis, and animal contact disease is rabies.

School life expectancy of Sri Lanka is 14 years; the male life expectancy is 13 years while

female life expectancy is 14 years.

Maldives

Maldives has population of 393,595. Birth rate in Maldives is 15.59 births/1,000 populations.

Death rate in Maldives is 3.84 deaths/1,000 populations. Maternal mortality rate (MMR) of

Maldives is 60 deaths/100000 live births. Infant mortality rate (IMR) of Maldives is total

24.59 deaths/1000 live births. In Maldives the total life expectancy (L.E) at birth is 75.15

years. The life expectancy of male is 72.86 years and life expectancy of female is 77.55

years. Total fertility rate of Maldives is 1.76 children born/woman. Maldives spends 8.5% of

total GDP on health expenditures. Maldives has physician’s density of 1.6 physicians/1,000

population. Hospital bed density of Maldives is 4.3 beds/1,000 populations. HIV/AIDS adult

prevalence rate is 0.1% in Maldives. School life expectancy of Maldives is 13 years, male

school life expectancy is 13 years and female school life expectancy is 13 years.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan has population of 31,822,848 and it has 42th position in the world ranking. Birth

rate in Afghanistan is 38.84 births/1,000 populations. Death rate in Afghanistan is 14.12

deaths/1,000 populations. Maternal mortality rate (MMR) of Afghanistan is 460

deaths/100000 live births. Infant mortality rate (IMR) of Afghanistan is total 117.23

deaths/1000 live births.

In Afghanistan the total life expectancy (L.E) at birth is 50.49 years. The life expectancy of

male is 49.17 years and life expectancy of female is 51.88 years. Afghanistan spends 9.6 % of

total GDP on health expenditures. Afghanistan has physician’s density of 0.19

physicians/1,000 population. Hospital bed density of Afghanistan is 0.4 beds/1,000

population. People affected by HIV/AIDS are approximately 4,300 and HIV/AIDS adult

prevalence rate is 0.1%. Major infectious diseases are bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and

typhoid fever food. Vector borne disease is malaria. Animal contact disease is rabies. School

life expectancy of Afghanistan is 9 years, male school life expectancy is 11 years and female

school life expectancy is 7 years.

LITERATURE REVIEW

A lot of work has been done about the effect of life expectancy on SAARC countries. A brief

review of the literature related to the life expectancy is provided by different researchers such

as Alamgir (1978) reviewed the location of Bangladesh and the country is described. Both

population characteristics (number of households and of women in reproductive age; labor

force and dependency ratio; sources and reliability of data; fertility, mortality, and migration;

and rural-urban distribution) and social and economic characteristics (economic status and

social stratification, literacy and education) are examined along with country policy and

actions taken .From our results we can conclude that Agriculture is the most important

activity in terms of its contribution to the gross domestic product and to employment.

Mortality has steadily declined, but economic and social conditions in rural areas appear to

have helped accelerate the population growth rate since the 1930s by encouraging a high

fertility level. Government population policies are now focused on creating a social

awareness that favors small families.

Mathers (2001) describes the methods used to produce the first estimates of healthy life

expectancy for 191 countries in 1999. These were based on estimates of the incidence,

prevalence, and disability distributions for 109 disease and injury causes by age group, sex,

and region of the world. Sullivan’s method used to compute healthy life expectancy for men

and women in each member of a country. Japan had the highest average healthy life

expectancy of 74·5 years at birth in 1999. The bottom countries are all in sub-Saharan Africa,

where the HIV-AIDS epidemic is most prevalent. Healthy life expectancy increases across

countries at faster rate than total life expectancy. Although women live longer, they spend a

greater amount of time with disability. As average levels of health expenditure per capita

increase, healthy life expectancy increases at a greater rate than total life expectancy.

Olshansky (2005) evaluated that forecasts of life expectancy are an important component of

public policy because it influences age-based power programs such as Social Security and

Medicare. Although the Social Security Administration recently raised its estimates of how

long Americans are going to live in the 21st century. Current trends in obesity in the United

States suggest that these estimates may not be accurate. From our analysis of the effect of

size on long life, we conclude that the steady rise in life expectancy during the past two

centuries may soon come to an end. Zhang (2005) construct a simple growth model where

agents with uncertain survival choose schooling time, life-cycle consumption and the number

of children. Rising longevity reduces fertility but raises saving, schooling time and the

growth rate at a diminishing rate. Cross-section analyses were used. The result exposed that

life expectancy has a significant positive effect on the saving rate, secondary school

enrollment and growth but a significant negative effect on fertility. Goni (2005) indicate that

over the last few decades many developing countries in the world, especially in Asia, have

experienced sharp decline in fertility rate. SAARC countries represent 36.5% population in

Asia and 23.1% population of the world and all of these countries have different religious,

cultural and economic backgrounds. The main objective is to make a comparative study on

the trends of fertility decline in different SAARC countries and also to see the trends of some

variables like infant mortality, per capita income, life expectancy and urbanization that

usually affect the fertility rate of a country. The results indicate that the rise in life expectancy

is the key factor of fertility decline in the SAARC countries. Parker (2011) indicates that

long life is a relatively recent phenomenon in Nepal; over the past few decades the priority in

Nepal has been reducing infant and maternal mortality. With an increasingly ageing

population and changing patterns of migration, this brings with it challenges to Nepali society

in terms of meeting the needs of an ageing population and creating a policy environment that

ensures these needs are met. This study explores some of the complexities of an ageing

population in Nepal and focuses on examining the various health and service implications to

a nation that has recently been engaged in a decade long ‘People’s War’. Zafar (2013)

studied on SAARC countries. The objective of this study is to check the impact of health on

economic growth in SAARC countries. Variables include in this study are health, GDP, life

expectancy and fertility rate. The secondary data period from 1985-2010 was used. Method

that is used for this study is Panel EGLS (Cross-section random effects). Estimation shows

that there is positive relationship between health and economic growth. There is negative

relationship between life expectancy and economic growth because when life expectancy

increase aged persons increase and burden on economy increase and economic growth

decrease. Saikia (2013) describes the changing age pattern of mortality in India during 1970–

2006. Two-dimensional flexible mortality model was applied on the data from India. This

provide further evidence of changes in country and state-level patterns of mortality

differentials by sex, and the major causes of death. We also study the contribution of major

causes of death to the female–Male mortality gap. The findings confirm that the health

advantage of Indian females over males has been growing since the 1980s.

Methodology

This study is conducted to compare the life expectancies among SAARC countries. Simple

bar charts were used to compare the results .The data were collected from Index Mundi and

which were from 2000 -2012.

Results and Conclusion

Figure -1 Figure-2

Figure-3 Figure -4

Figure-5 Figure-6

Figure-7 Figures-8

Conclusion

From this study we conclude that life expectancy of Pakistan was 67.05 in 2014 and ranked

by 7th position .Life expectancy is increasing due to different reasons such as high fertility

rate, Family Welfare, Reproductive health Service Centre, development in industrialization,

improved economic status, proper medication and development in agriculture has increased

life expectancy. Many factors influence Pakistan‘s life expectancy such as impure water,

poverty, starvation, environmental pollution, natural disaster, careless driving, political

workers clashes and terrorist attacks. Bangladesh life’s expectancy was 70.65 in 2014 and

ranked by 3rd position ,which is increasing due to many reasons such as fertile land, health

facilities, improved nutrition and most valuable climate. Many factors influenced life

expectancy of Bangladesh such as poverty, flood, heavy rains, water and sanitation problems

occur due to increasing life expectancy. India life expectancy was 67.8 in 2014 and ranked by

5th position. India is Polio free country and Indian economy is the world’s seventh - largest by

nominal GDP and third -largest by purchasing power parity hence India life expectancy has

improved. India’s air pollution, ranked among the world’s worst country. India is continuous

to facing poverty, Malaria, corruption terrorism. Life expectancy of Srilanka was 76.35 in

2014 and ranked by 1st position, which is increasing because Sri Lanka has achieved a

number of noteworthy successes in the area of health security, mortality and fertility rates

have dramatically declined. Srilanka has also some issues like all earning is mostly done from

farm activities hence Srilanka has been experiencing moderate growth in GDP. Srilanka is

facing poverty issue, specifically rural poverty. Poor economies of scale, low investment

levels, limited technology has bad influence on economy. Maldives life expectancy was

75.15 in 2014 and ranked by 2nd position. From 1990 to 2000 the government focused on the

immunization system in the Maldives children. So improvement in the immunization power

has increased children life expectancy. Fisheries, tourism, trade, and transport (shipping)

have improved the economy and also increased the GDP due to which life expectancy has

increased. The Maldives is one of the world's poorest developing countries so it is threatened

by global warming because of its very low elevation. The other constraints Maldives faces

are small and widely dispersed island communities, limited skilled human resources, and

rapid population growth. Afghanistan life expectancy was 50.49 in 2014 and ranked by 8 th

position. Afghans are living longer, fewer infants are dying and more women are surviving

childbirth because healthcare has dramatically improved around the country in the past

decade, according to a national survey. Increased access to healthcare, more hospitals, clinics

and doctors have significantly contributed to an overall improvement in the health of most

Afghans. Afghanistan faces enormous problems like war, civil conflict and frequent natural

disasters which have reduced agricultural productivity. Insecurity is a major and growing

concern. Military operations have affected food security in some regions and have reduced

agricultural productivity. Bhutan life expectancy was 68.98 in 2014 and ranked by 4th

position. Bhutan is most populated country. The economy is based on agriculture and forestry

and provides the livelihoods for 90 percent of the population. A large percentage of

Bhutanese are rural residents who live in houses built to withstand the long, cold winters,

with wood-burning stoves for both heat and cooking so they have not good facilities. Bhutan

suffers from a shortage of medical. Life expectancy of Nepal was 67.19 in 2014 and ranked

by 6th position. Nepal has made dramatic progress in increasing the average life-expectancy

of its citizens – mainly due to a sharp drop in maternal and child mortality by better access to

health care, education, nutrition and immunization. The growth in life expectancy is also a

result of Nepal’s dramatically decreasing fertility rate.

References

Alamgir, M. (1978). Bangladesh.

GONI, A., & RAHMATULLAH IMON, A. H. M. (2005). On the decline in fertility: A comparative study among SAARC countries. Man in India, 85(1-2), 93-102.

Mathers, C. D., Sadana, R., Salomon, J. A., Murray, C. J., & Lopez, A. D. (2001). Healthy life expectancy in 191 countries, 1999. The Lancet, 357(9269), 1685-1691.

Olshansky, S. J., Passaro, D. J., Hershow, R. C., Layden, J., Carnes, B. A., Brody, J., ... &

Ludwig, D. S. (2005). A potential decline in life expectancy in the United States in the 21st century. New England Journal of Medicine,352(11), 1138-1145.

Parker, S., & Pant, B. (2011). Longevity in Nepal: Health, policy and service provision challenges. International Journal of Society Systems Science, 3(4), 333-345.

Zhang, J., & Zhang, J. (2005). The Effect of Life Expectancy on Fertility, Saving, Schooling and Economic Growth: Theory and Evidence*. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 107(1), 45-66.