The Asia-Pacific region has already reached the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the incidence of poverty, and reducing the proportion of people living on less than $1.25 per day from 50 to 22% between 1990 and 2009, according to the latest assessment of regional progress towards the MDGs. The report "Accelerating Equitable Achievement of the MDGs: Closing the Gaps in Health and Nutrition in Asia and the Pacific" has been jointly published by ADB, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The region has also achieved some other MDG indicators ahead of the target year of 2015, the report added. These include promoting gender equality in education, reducing HIV prevalence, stopping the spread of tuberculosis, increasing forest cover, reducing consumption of ozone-depleting substances and halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water. However, while strong economic dynamism has driven regional success in poverty reduction, even fast growing countries continue to lose shocking numbers of children before their fifth birthday, and thousands of mothers die unnecessarily while giving birth, the report reveals. The report warns that at the present rate of progress, the region as a whole is unlikely to meet MDGs related to eradicating hunger, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health, among others. If governments are to raise standards of health they will have to focus much more sharply on the needs of the poor and vulnerable, says the report. While the number of people without access to safe drinking water in the region fell from 856 million to 466 million between 1990 and 2008, the region still accounts for more than half the total developing world population lacking safe drinking water. Asia-Pacific countries were also home to more than 70% of people without access to sanitation in the developing world in 2008. The report notes that many countries can speed up progress with just a little effort. The joint report outlines an eight-point agenda to fast-track progress towards the health MDGs. This requires addressing the social determinants of health inequities and vulnerabilities; establishing an equitable, accessible, responsive and integrated primary health care system; and improving preventive, promotive and curative mother and child health services.