12-Oct-15 According to the 2015 Quality of Death index, the Philippines lacks a strategy for palliative care, making Manila the worst place to die after Iraq and Bangladesh. Although the government has palliative care programs, its major thrust is universal healthcare. “We are improving the services of PhilHealth, and the number of health issues under its coverage has increased,” said a spokesperson. [image: Philstar]

10-Oct-15 Myanmar is trying to kick its foreign drug habit: In recent years the government has offered incentives to seven private distributors to try their hand at manufacturing domestically. All other pharmaceutical products – between 80 percent and 90 percent – are imported. [image: Ann Wang / Frontier Myanmar]

08-Oct-15 Increasing chronic lifestyle diseases in India and the need to access healthcare at home has enabled Portea Medical, a home healthcare start-up, to establish a presence across 24 cities in India and four cities in Malaysia. Nearly 3,000 staff handle 60,000 visits per month, making Portea the largest player in the sector. [image: ehealth]

07-Oct-15 Tablets and senior-friendly applications will soon benefit 25 senior activity centers in Singapore. IDA, A*STAR, NTUC Health and St Luke’s Eldercare have agreed to work together to identify challenges faced by seniors and carry out technical trials at identified eldercare facilities. [image: Healthcare Innovation]

05-Oct-15 Although Can Tho in Vietnam has many hospitals, equipment for diagnosis and treatment is inadequate, and the medical sector desperately needs support from countries like Japan. Narazaki Mikio, President of Japan Intl Human Resources Development Association, said they will supply medical equipment and training, adding “the more machines like MRI or CT scanners you have, the better patient treatment will be." [image: VOVworld]