14-Aug-16 As the economic boom in Gulf countries has deflated in tandem with hydrocarbon prices, the region has been saddled with another boom, struggling under a massive social burden of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular ailments. The GCC region is now expected to see the healthcare industry flourish as it works to keep the populace healthy. [image: Dallah Healthcare]

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]

10-Aug-16 The trend of sports other than cricket becoming more demanding is giving rise to a new breed of medical specialists in India: sports medicine. Hospitals are seeing a spike in sports-related injuries. Dr Raghu Nagaraj from Hosmat Hospital said, "A couple of years ago we used to see only 15 to 18 surgeries a month, but these days we perform close to 45." [image: Bangalore Mirror]

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]