Singapore, Mar 22, 2010: Economist Conferences’ Healthcare in Asia roundtable will be held in Singapore on March 30 and 31, bringing together over 150 of the region’s foremost healthcare experts including health ministers, regulators, policymakers, leading practitioners and academics. Healthcare in Asia is the first of a multi-year initiative with the theme of this year’s forum focusing on “The healthcare challenges in Asia, and the priorities for reform.”

The programme will focus on the healthcare challenges facing populations in Asia and the implementation of government reforms to healthcare systems, as well as establishing the preeminent platform for dialogue between all stakeholders concerned with healthcare outcomes in the region.

A number of the region’s health ministers, government officials and industry experts are confirmed to speak at the event including: Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for Health, Republic of Singapore; Dr York Chow, Secretary for Food and Health, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Dr Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, Minister of Health, Republic of Indonesia; Dr Chih-Liang Yaung, Minister, Department of Health, Taiwan; Mr Arthur Higgins, Chief Executive Officer, Bayer HealthCare; Shane Solomon, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Hospital Authority; Dr Henk Bekedam, Director of Health Sector Development Division, World Health Organization; Dr Sarah Muttitt, Chief Information Officer, MOHH; and Shou-Hsia Cheng, Director General, Bureau of National Health Insurance, Taiwan.

Charles Goddard, Editorial Director, Asia-Pacific, Economist Intelligence Unit said, “At a time when governments in the region are investing heavily in their healthcare systems, the Healthcare in Asia roundtable will generate interesting discussions around how they will prioritise these reforms to meet the needs of their citizens. We hope that this forum will provide a platform for all stakeholders to share learnings from around the region—and indeed the world—on best practices and on what has or has not worked as Asia moves away from scarce and rudimentary healthcare services to more sophisticated systems.”