Southeast Asia

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Governance
Firefighters wearing protective suits spray disinfectant at the National Monument area to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Jakarta, Indonesia, on June 17, 2020. Photo shows several workers in bright red protective suits walking though an open area spraying from tanks they carry on their backs. A monument can be seen in the background. REUTERS/Antara Foto/Wahyu Putro

Southeast Asia Needs Its Own CDC

by Swee Kheng Khor, Jeremy Lim, Li Yang Hsu, Jemilah Mahmood

COVID-19 is a baptism by fire and highlights the need for an effective, durable disease control authority in the region

Governance
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

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

A health technician analyses blood samples for tuberculosis testing in a high-tech TB laboratory in Carabayllo, an area in Lima, Peru on May 19, 2016. The image shows a splashing liquid being washed across glass plates each of which is dotted with what appears to be a blood drop sample. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo
Poverty

Diabetes and TB—A Complicating Combo

by Kirsten Wiens

Though they are entirely different types of diseases TB and diabetes exacerbate each other in surprising—and costly—ways

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?

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?