17-May-16 Maternal and child health outcomes achieved in Afghanistan have been fairly positive in a little over a decade. Unless we find ways to build health systems in fragile and failed states, it will be harder to progress on global goals such as the reduction of maternal and child mortality, and to protect the world from new infectious disease outbreaks. [image: GlobalGiving]

17-May-16 Already one of the world’s most popular tourist spots, Bali is now aiming to become a medical tourism destination. The Bali administration is constructing a new 176 bed Bali Mandara Hospital for IDR199 bn (USD15 mn), targeted for completion in 2016. The hospital is designed as an integrated cancer treatment center with facilities for radiodiagnostics, radiotherapy and nuclear medicine. [image: Balicsd / Google Earth]

17-May-16 District-level hospitals in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City are now using more advanced techniques and treatment, often performing at the level of city hospitals. The Thu Duc District Hospital has successfully performed for the first time the non-surgical treatment, transarterial chemoembolization, on a patient with a malignant liver tumour. [image: tuoitre.vn]

16-May-16 A group of specialist medicos is seeking to counter self-diagnosis and make tertiary medical services more available by providing consultations online. They have established Docto, Australia’s first telemedicine hospital, and have plans to take the business global. The venture has recruited some 50 specialists to its cause and has an agreement with specialist underwriting agency AHI. [image: Gold Coast Bulletin]

16-May-16 China is to increase the number of organ transplant hospitals from 169 to about 300 by 2020. There are currently about 10,000 surgeries performed annually. However, there are 30,000 patients awaiting transplants. In contrast, the United States has more than 300 transplant centers, performing the most transplants worldwide. [image: Newsgd.com]