Public health

Many private hospitals and medical clinics in Laos are charging excessive rates for medical treatment because the owners of these hospitals and clinics do not have enough understanding about the Law on Healthcare. In Laos, there are some 17 private hospitals and more than 1,000 clinics ...

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered authorities to look into the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) to ensure its funds are being spent to improve people’s health and promote the well-being of the general public. Government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said on 12 October the premier’s order for comprehensive ...

Millions of dollars of aid money granted to Cambodia by the Global Fund to combat malaria have been left sitting in a bank account for more than a year, official documents seen by the Post show. The money remains untouched because the National Malaria Centre (CNM) ...

Volunteers prop up many aspects of the Myanmar healthcare system.  This culture of self-reliance is partially a legacy of the military era where vast spending on defence came at the expense of health or education. While budgets have increased since 2011’s end of outright army rule, Myanmar ...

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered the Foreign Ministry to work closely with neighbouring countries to tackle the chronic haze problem gripping Southeast Asia. Short- and long-term solutions are needed to deal with the smog caused by slash-and-burn farming on Sumatra Island in Indonesia, Gen Prayut ...

The haze from forest fires in Indonesia has reached southern Thailand, with smoke from the dust particles rising above safety levels in Songkhla province’s Hat Yai district. Songhkla Governor Songpol Sawasditham on 5 October set up a war room to combat the impact of the haze ...

As Cambodia contends with one of the strongest El Niño cycles in recent memory, a new study of millions of dengue cases over the past two-decades-plus has shown that spikes in the deadly disease across Southeast Asia may be linked to the weather phenomenon. Upswings in ...

Many students at Laos’ University of Health Sciences are there because that’s what their parents want and are taking courses reluctantly because they have no personal interest in the subject. This is the finding of a survey carried out by Associate Professor Dr Mayfong Mayxay of the ...

The National Hospital for Tropical Diseases is struggling to cope with a flood of dengue fever patients who insist on getting treated there, instead of local hospitals and clinics. Dr Nguyen Trung Cap, head of the Ha Noi-based hospital’s emergency department, said since the monsoon began ...

A national road safety action plan established in 2011 is severely off target and road deaths could surpass 3,200 by 2020 unless drastic action is taken, the National Road Safety Committee (NRSC) warned on 30 September. In total, 2,226 people were killed in 4,645 recorded traffic ...