19-Aug-16 China’s ageing population has attracted foreign elderly-care services providers but they are struggling to make profits despite the market offering the largest number of senior citizens in the world. Haitong Securities said in a research report that “surging demand and limited affordability” was the major problem facing China’s elderly-care industry today. [image: South China Morning Post]

14-Aug-16 China has the highest number of diabetics in the world - 109 mn in 2015 or 11% of the population, a third of the world’s diabetic population. 13% of medical expenditure is directly caused by diabetes. "If we don’t act now," says Bernhard Schwartländer, a WHO representative in China, "diabetes will overwhelm the health system." [image: Reuters / Kim Kyung-Hoon]

22-Jul-16 In 2012, around 500 mn people in China had an uncorrected visual defect. 450 mn of those had myopia. That’s about a third of the population. And, barring policy interventions, around 700 mn people will have myopia by 2020 - half the population. Global Growth Markets estimates about 2.4 mn people had vision correction surgery in China in 2015, mainly LASIK. [image: Reuters / Damir Sagolj]

11-Aug-16 Malaysian and Chinese investors should enter into joint ventures to tap the huge potential for rubber medical gloves in China, given the country’s huge population and low usage of such gloves currently, Malaysia's Plantation Industries & Commodities Minister has said. China's current use of rubber medical gloves is three pairs per capita, compared with 25 pairs per capita globally. [image: The Star]

05-Aug-16 The latest reform of China's health system will see patients sign contracts with physicians for basic medical needs. According to the State Council, pregnant women, the elderly, children and those with chronic diseases are the prime targets of the new system. The initiative is intended to make services more accessible to the public and reduce overall medical costs. [image: China Daily]