He said there were also "major areas of challenge" including disappointing breast feeding rates, large variations in preventable tooth decay in children, high death rates from lung diseases and a large amount of preventable cancers and cardiovascular disease.
It seems to be particularly important for the growth and survival of some cancer cells and large amounts of the molecule are often present in the cells of non-small cell lung cancers, sometimes in a mutated, over-active form.
The recent pick-up in manufacturing surveys in a large part of the world supports the view that Asian economic growth had bottomed, said Kun Lung Wu, research analyst at Credit Suisse.