Fifty children under five years of age die every hour in South East Asia due to diarrhea, which is a leading cause of child mortality in the region, second only to pneumonia, the WHO said.
The region accounts for 70 percent of the world's malnourished children. The incidence of low birth weight is still high at 30 percent.
'These diseases of poverty cannot be prevented and controlled by the health sector alone. Partnerships are therefore needed from every sector of society to successfully fight these diseases,' said Samlee Plianbangchang, WHO's regional director for southeast Asia.