08-Jan-15 The Food & Drug Administration in Taiwan has reiterated its determination to facilitate easy access to drugs to further promote responsible self-medication, which it says can save people time waiting in hospitals and clinics, as well as considerable National Health Insurance spending. [image: GBI Research]

27-Nov-14 A new OECD report says despite a 10% improvement in life expectancy over the past 20 years, most Asia-Pacific countries still need to step up efforts to give people access to affordable, quality healthcare. Too many people, especially women, cannot get the treatment they need due to high costs, difficulties in getting permission to see a doctor, or a lack of providers in rural areas. [image: OECD]

24-Nov-14 Malaysia’s Deputy Health Minister has said the infrastructure and culture of the country’s healthcare needs to be re-engineered to deliver better services to its people, in the face of complexity caused by changing disease patterns and reform initiatives. The government is supporting health research by making it a national agenda. [image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas]

Nov-14 Health services in the Arabian Gulf region are at a crossroads. Despite heavy investment in new hospitals, the rise in non-communicable diseases cannot be halted unless there is a whole systems approach. The region will either follow a route of reactive medicine and spiralling costs, or a preventative one, adopting technology to change the way care is delivered in the community. [image: Arab Health Magazine]

25-Oct-14 Turkish people’s healthcare spending rose 85% from 2009 to 2014, as a major shift in the burden of expenditure away from the state took place. Patients are charged up to ten different types of fees, such as examination payment and pillbox payment, when paying for treatment and medication. [image: Today's Zaman]