Asia had been ravaged by war - atomic bombs fell over Hiroshima, succeeding armies marched across the Philippines, guerrillas fought over Indochina. Few towns had clean drinking water or adequate sanitation. Public health services hardly existed. Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, better social infrastructure improved health across a broad swath of the region. But it was not until the 1980s, when economies from Taiwan to Thailand began to boom, that many of the infectious scourges, though not totally eliminated, largely disappeared from town centers.
Some countries enjoy even higher numbers.
Japanese now lead the world in longevity, with women enjoying an average life expectancy of 83 years. Some diseases have been eradicated through concerted programs of relatively cheap immunization. Over the past decade polio has almost dropped off the chart. The successes made against these diseases is a major reason why life expectancies have increased across the board. But living longer brings other problems.