09-Jul-16 As China's medical bills rise steeply, outpacing government insurance provision, patients and their families are increasingly turning to loans to pay for healthcare, adding to the country's growing burden of consumer debt. That is luring big companies like Ping An Insurance as well as small loan firms and P2P platforms, as China's traditional savings culture proves inadequate. [image: Reuters / David Gray]

24-Jun-16 A strike is happening in more than 80 cities in Mexico, with the community health sector seeking to voice the trouble spots of their profession. The Universal Health System, announced in 2013, proposes that the healthcare systems serving government and private employees exchange resources for common diseases. Doctors argue this measure does not account for differences in hospitals and clinics from different affiliations. [image: hipertextual.com]

22-Jun-16 Public hospitals in China are facing tougher scrutiny over prescriptions and tests as Beijing tries to find ways to cut costs and keep spending growth below 10%. A directive by the NHFPC aimed at controlling spending calls on its provincial and municipal branches to convey budget goals to public hospitals and establish a system for overseeing health care expenses. [image: South China Morning Post]

13-Jun-16 In 2012, SGD4.7 billion was spent on healthcare in Singapore. Fast-forward to 2016, spending on healthcare is budgeted at SGD11 billion. Singapore’s medical spending growth is five times more than the general inflation rate. This is a worrying statistic. The financial burden on both the individual and family will be immense. [image: Aon Hewitt / Yahoo!]

09-Jun-16 Basic healthcare is becoming less accessible to ordinary Russians. Medicine sales have fallen for the first time in Russia since 2008: Analysts recorded a 10% drop in drug sales in the first quarter of 2016. During a severe economic crisis, a growing number of Russians can no longer afford to buy medicine. [image: Andrei Iglov / RIA Novosti]