06-Feb-15 A conference to promote cooperation in healthcare between Vietnam and Japan was held in Hanoi in early February 2015. The Deputy Minister of Health said the conference was a good opportunity for Vietnam to learn from Japan’s experience in dealing with an ageing population. Vietnam’s population is quickly ageing and the proportion of elderly people will rise to 10.5% in a few years, making it one of the 10 most rapidly ageing countries. [image: VietnamPlus / VNA]

06-Feb-15 The top 10 health events announced by Vietnam's Ministry of Health includes establishing a healthcare hotline, amending the health insurance law, the application of modern technology in hospitals and improving the hospital overload situation. [image: Nhan Dan Online / VNA]

28-Jan-15 Turkey continues to assert its dominance as a major medical tourism destination, with a record 360,000 foreign patients visiting the country in 2014, up from 308,000 in 2013. A further 100,000 received treatment as outpatients. Turkey’s long hot season, international travel connections and low cost healthcare all help to draw in medical tourists. [image: Nikkei Asian Review]

27-Jan-15 Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPIC) is to buy 12 more hospitals outside Metro Manila. MPIC already has stakes in eight hospitals with 2,082 beds combined, which it wants to bring to 2,712 by the end of 2015. Acquisition targets are most likely to be in North and Southern Luzon. [image: Rappler]

26-Jan-15 Thonburi Hospital Group (THG), Thailand's third-largest private hospital group, says it expects to sign an MOU with Ga Mone Pwint (GMP Group) in Yangon to start building two superior-standard hospitals there. THG, which has 22 hospitals in Thailand and elsewhere with 3,000 beds combined, plans to spend US$100 million on the two hospitals. [image: Myanmar Business Today/Thonburi]