18-Nov-16 Mitsui, one of Japan’s largest corporations, and investment firm KKR have announced the signing of a share purchase agreement for 22% of Panasonic Healthcare for JPY54.1 bn (USD510 mn). Panasonic Healthcare develops, manufactures, and sells blood glucose monitoring systems for diabetes. In Jan-16 it acquired Ascensia, formerly the diabetes care unit of Bayer. [image: Panasonic]

18-Nov-16 2016 marked another major milestone in China, as health became an explicit national priority under the Healthy China 2030 plan. This is an exceptional recognition of the political power of health. But some formidable new threats have arrived. Population-wide increases in body weight warn of a wave of lifestyle-related diseases including heart disease, diabetes and diet-related cancers. [image: China Topix]

18-Nov-16 One of the UAE’s most prominent healthcare groups, Zulekha Healthcare, has expanded its reach to an international scale, opening a new hospital in Nagpur, India. Spanning an area of 225,000sqft, the 200-bed multi-speciality hospital provides international quality medical care across Cardiac Sciences, ENT, Orthopaedics, Neurosciences, Paediatrics, Internal Medicine, Urology, Nephrology, Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Minimal Invasive Surgery. [image: Zawya]

16-Nov-16 "Even though positioning Thailand as a medical hub of ASEAN has brought about rising income from medical tourism, the internationalisation of private hospitals means higher fees for medical treatment, care and services. Unfortunately, the trend has triggered a wave of copycat hikes among most private hospitals, the majority of whose customers are Thais." [image: Weerawong Wongpreedee / Bangkok Post]

16-Nov-16 Taking inspiration from Thailand, a sound information technology platform could enable effective universal health coverage in India. Thailand has leveraged technology extensively. Its national registration database forms the backbone of all health schemes in the country, ensuring that a beneficiary cannot enrol in two schemes - something India could learn from as the National Health Protection Scheme launch approaches. [image: AFP]