ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book encloses some of the current issues facing South Asia, and highlights the countries that form the South Asian region. The demographic transition is marked by an important in child survival followed by fertility decline. The Hindu caste system is the most dominant form of hierarchy in the subcontinent, while the Muslim hierarchy is focused on where and how and when a person became a Muslim with descendants of those who converted to Islam having the lowest status, and those claiming to be descended from the Prophet Muhammad having the highest. With little previous government expenditure on health care and a further decrease after 1990, space was created for private investment once the economies of the region began to prosper. Now the middle and upper classes use private providers, while the poor use poorly funded public health-care systems.
