28-Apr-17  As the overall level of affluence in China has increased an increasing proportion of households has reached the level where they are commercially attractive to international marketers, typically income of >USD20k. In 2016 there were 32 cities with 100,000 households of >USD50k income. With the exceptions of Chongqing, Wuhan, Chengdu, Changsha and Kunming, they are located in the east. [image: Global Demographics]

28-Apr-17 The World Economic Forum plans pilot programs of a new healthcare model that would pay for treatment based on how well it works rather than volume of care. Signatories include Novartis, Takeda, Medtronic, Kaiser Permanente, Qualcomm's health-data unit, and health officials from the Netherlands and Britain. Regional pilots are planned for The Netherlands, Singapore and China. [image: Reuters]

27-Apr-17 Malaysia again won the Health and Medical Tourism Destination of the Year award for the third consecutive year, at the annual IMTJ Medical Travel Awards, which recognise innovation, excellence and best practices in medical travel and tourism. [image: The Star]

27-Apr-17 The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has signed an MoU with Retreat Palm Dubai MGallery that aims to drive wellness tourism in the region. Dr Layla Al Marzouqi, director of Dubai Medical Tourism Project, commented: “We aspire to position Dubai as the first medical tourism destination in the MENA region and to be among the top 10 medical tourism destinations." [image: IHMT]

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