Philippines

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Governance
Filipino Catholic devotees touch the statue of crucified Jesus Christ after attending a mass at a National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Baclaran, Paranaque city, metro Manila, Philippines September 18, 2016.

Spirituality and Mental Health

by Lourdes Ladrido-Ignacio

A movement blossoming in the Philippines among health and religious leaders aims to incorporate spirituality into health

Governance
A physician with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) places his stethoscope to the chest of hospital patient Marco Vargas, who has COVID, in Caracas, Venezuela, on February 1, 2022.

A Help Wanted Sign for Health Workers

by Annie Haakenstad, Megan Knight

What the ratio of doctors to nurses in Bangladesh and the Philippines tells us about the global health worker shortage

People wearing face masks as protection against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) queue outside a government office, in Caloocan City, Metro Manila, Philippines, February 1, 2021.
Governance

Insuring 100 Million People During COVID-19

by Melanie Coronel Santillan, Reiner Lorenzo J. Tamayo, Merla Rose D. Reyes , Swee Kheng Khor, Katherine Ann V. Reyes

The Philippines' experience

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

You wouldn’t know it from this image of hustle-bustle on the streets of the Mong Kok district in Hong Kong on Oct. 4, 2011, but the workforce in many Asian economic powerhouses is steadily shrinking. Picture shows the street from above, a wide pedestrian walkway with broad yellow lines painted at an angle. Dozens of people can be seen in the frame, all blurred due to fast movement and a slow shutter. REUTERS/Bobby Yip
Aging

Lessons From an Aging Asia

by Erin Gallagher, Sheila A. Smith

How will demographic shifts affect workforce, health care, gender equality, disaster response, and societal well-being?

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?

Migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh in Thailand's southern Songkhla province on May 9, 2015. In 2001 Thailand launched a health insurance scheme for migrants and expanded it to dependents in 2005. Picture shows a triangle of men sitting cross-legged looking at the camera. REUTERS/Surapan Boonthanom.
Migration

The Geopolitics of Polio in Southeast Asia

by Swee Kheng Khor

The risk of re-emergence highlights the looming political choices Southeast Asia now needs to make to protect its people

A nurse takes a photograph during a rally in front of the Government House in Bangkok October 16, 2012. Nurses attending the rally demanded better working conditions and full-time jobs, asking the government to improve job security by offering permanent contracts. The nurse stands in her white outfit against a sea of brightly colored umbrellas.
Trade

Southeast Asia’s Big Export to the World: Health Professionals

by Swee Kheng Khor

What long-term effect will the brain drain have on SE Asia, on top of a current shortfall of 700,000 doctors and nurses?