Swee Kheng Khor

Swee Kheng Khor is a Senior Fellow, Health Systems and Policies at the University of Malaya, and is now at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. Since 2003, he held progressively senior roles in five practice areas (clinical medicine; refugee & disaster relief; clinical research; healthcare anti-corruption; and health systems & policy), covering >90 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He holds an MD (National University of Malaysia), an MPH (University of California, Berkeley) and a Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom.

Latest

A Buddhist monk adjusts his protective face mask before a blessing ceremony for the people affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on February 22, 2020. This is a striking image with the monk in the foreground and some very colourful Buddhist temple features in the background. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng
Governance

Why is Southeast Asia Responding Differently to COVID-19?

by Swee Kheng Khor

Fundamental differences and objectives between nation states in Southeast Asia influence their responses to COVID-19

Medical staff transfer a patient of a highly suspected case of a new coronavirus at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong on January 22, 2020. Picture shows a patient on a wheeled bed surrounded by four health care providers moving him with another caregiver walking in front. They all are covered head-to-toe in blue protective gear. REUTERS/cnsphoto
Governance

The Politics of the Coronavirus Outbreak

by Swee Kheng Khor

Why are outbreaks common in Asia, and what political choices can governments make to reduce risk of infectious diseases?

People waiting at Fatmawati hospital in Jakarta on May 17, 2013, after Indonesia announced plans to implement nationwide health care, with the aim to covering all Indonesians by the end of the decade. The picture shows a crowded waiting room with a man in the foreground with a red cloth draped over his head and holding what appears to be a bag of ice against his cheek. He looks like he is suffering. REUTERS/Beawiharta.
Trade

The March of Private Health Care in Southeast Asia

by Swee Kheng Khor

How can a government achieve universal coverage for all citizens in a landscape where private care is deeply entrenched?