18-Feb-16 If current trends continue, half the world’s population (4.8 bn people) will be short-sighted in just over three decades, with one-fifth of those expected to have a significantly increased risk of blindness. 96% of teenagers in Korea are short-sighted and in Singapore, China and Japan the rate is around 80-90%. [image: Nomad_Soul / Shutterstock.com]

17-Feb-16 The Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia has granted Abbott approval for its new glucose monitoring system, FreeStyle Libre. The technology removes the need for finger pricks and monitors glucose levels through a device worn on the back of the arm and secured by an adhesive pad. A handheld reader is scanned over the sensor to get a glucose result. [image: Abbott]

17-Feb-16 Bausch + Lomb has entered a partnership in India with global technology company Bosch. This cooperation brings together leading providers of eye care solutions and technology in India, to market diagnostic devices in the ophthalmic segment. Bausch + Lomb will market Bosch's Fundus retina camera, which can detect conditions such as cataract at an early stage. [image: Bausch & Lomb]

15-Feb-16 Nearly 1,900 services and products at Vietnam's public hospitals will become around 30% more expensive in Mar-16. The new tariff regime will see patients pay for items that were previously government subsidised, such as power, water, equipment maintenance, waste treatment, training, research and more. [image: Thanhnien.vn]

15-Feb-16 China plans to consolidate its huge and fragmented drug market and will support a greater role for traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). China is a major lure for drug firms targeting growth driven by rising incomes and a fast-ageing population. Beijing is keen, however, for local firms to take a larger slice of the market. [image: Reuters / Aly Song]