14-May-15 Health experts have called for more efforts to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer and diabetes in Vietnam, which have been increasing during recent years. "Of every ten deaths in Vietnam, seven are caused by NCDs, mainly cardiological, cancer, and diabetes," said deputy minister Nguyen Thanh Long. [image: laodong]

14-May-15 Macau's public healthcare sector expects to recruit 2,640 additional health professionals in the next five years. According to the head of Health Bureau, Lei Chin Ion, the expansion is timed with the introduction of the city’s second public hospital, slated for operation by 2020, along with several other upcoming health centers. [image: Macau Daily Times]

14-May-15 India's Wockhardt Hospitals, part of the Habil Khorakiwala-promoted Wockhardt Group, has chalked out an expansion plan, looking at adding two hospitals every year, particularly in tier-I and tier-II cities. In 2014, the firm opened a 350-bed hospital in south Mumbai, its first in four years. [image: Mint]

13-May-15 China's State Council has published a plan to overhaul thousands of public county hospitals nationwide. A key reform is barring a 15% drug mark-up, which some say causes over-prescription of expensive imported drugs. An economist at the University of International Business & Economics in Beijing said hospitals will now have to raise prices on other services or lower quality levels. [image: Caixin Online]

13-May-15 In a bid to expand further into Southeast Asia, Pfizer has struck an agreement on the Laos market with distributor DKSH. Under the deal, DKSH will be the sole market expansion services provider for Pfizer's entire range of pharmaceutical products in Laos. The agreement is an extension of a successful collaboration that also includes Cambodia and Thailand. [image: Bio Spectrum]