06-Mar-17 IHH Healthcare, Asia's largest hospital operator by market value, has sold a USD160 mn stake in Apollo Hospitals in a deal that will consolidate its investments in India. It operates >10,000 beds in 52 hospitals across 10 countries, with Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey and India making up most of its MYR10 bn (USD2.2 bn) revenue in 2016. [image: The Economic Times]

05-Mar-17 Indonesia’s healthcare insurance scheme is struggling to gain traction. Poor services at public hospitals and the difficulty of accessing care across the vast archipelago are factors, but abuse of the scheme by hospitals and fraud by users are also to blame. The number of people benefiting from the scheme may be less than official figures claim. [image: FT Confidentail Research]

04-Mar-17 Philippine conglomerate Ayala is planning 500-bed general hospitals in suburbs of Manila, aiming to streamline healthcare services by integrating large facilities with a network of small clinics. QualiMed's first flagship hospital will open no later than 2019. A second large hospital will be added around 2021. QualiMed eventually aims to deploy the hospital-clinic business model in the Visayas and Mindanao. [image: Nikkei Asian Review]

08-Feb-17 Vietnam plans to issue electronic health security cards to its citizens verifying their right to medical services. The push to digitize the system is aimed at seamless healthcare delivery and insurance across the country. Electronic healthcare registries in all 63 cities and provinces will be synced together so that insurance plans will have to accept all cardholders. [image: VN Express / Dang Phuong Lan]

23-Feb-17 Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng wants to make Penang into a medical city with excellent hospitals, highly trained doctors and affordable care. The government seeks to bring in foreign and local investment to enhance healthcare facilities. Lim explains: "medical tourism is booming in Malaysia... Investment is important to reinforce Malaysia’s position as the number one medical tourism destination." [image: Investvine]