18-Jan-17 Private equity firms and hedge funds are investing heavily into China’s healthcare industry in a bet on the sector’s upbeat growth potential. Private hospitals and drug makers are among the bright spots for investors focusing on China, where rising income and an ageing population are boosting the demand for quality medical services. [image: South China Morning Post]

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17-Jan-17 India’s Practo has raised US$55 mn in funding led by China’s Tencent. The funds will be used to foray into health insurance, bundling it with its consumer-facing services. Practo aggregates over 200,000 doctors across 10,000 hospitals, 8,000 diagnostic centers and 4,000 wellness and fitness centers in India, Brazil, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. [image: Tech In Asia]

16-Jan-17 One of the Philippines' Department of Health's initiatives to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is an eHealth Strategic Framework, which aims to integrate ICT with healthcare. The SDGs got the support of Globe through a partnership with Salud Interactiva. Globe is offering the KonsultaMD service which provides access to licensed doctors. With 24/7 phone consultation, patients receive medical assessment. [image: Cebu Daily News]

12-Jan-17 Samsung Electronics will develop 'wearable healthcare devices' as its new business for the future instead of the robots that LG and other rivals are paying attention to. "The roles of home robots recently introduced by home appliance companies can be realized by adding artificial intelligence to existing devices such as smartphones, TVs and IoT refrigerators,” said a representative. [image: Business Korea]