THE first global pandemic in a generation thrust the healthcare industry into the spotlight. The combination of rising healthcare costs, issues of accessibility exacerbated by clinical staff shortages, and a focus on treating Covid-19 patients at the expense of non-communicable diseases, created a perfect storm for the sector. Nowhere has this been more acute than in Asia.

The pandemic highlighted the asymmetric development of the healthcare industry, which has historically favoured developed markets and its priorities – from how drugs are developed, to the mechanisms of diagnosis and the delivery of treatment.

Driven by shifting demographics, rising consumer expectations and an underdeveloped healthcare ecosystem, Asia is primed for rapid healthcare change. As seen by the effects of the global pandemic, governments cannot solve this challenge alone.

Whether through bridging the affordability gap, recruiting and training more healthcare professionals, or navigating fragmented healthcare systems across the region, private players equipped with access to resources, expertise, and experience have a meaningful opportunity to partner governments to improve outcomes for patients.

Over the past few years, the healthcare industry has seen massive disruptions owing to factors such as the pandemic, the rise of telemedicine and digital technology, and labour shortages. The pandemic has also shown us how ill-prepared the sector was to tackle public health emergencies of this scale.

While countries throughout South-east Asia retained a certain level of preparedness from the SARS outbreak, the scale, impact, and longevity of Covid-19 has been unprecedented, putting even the most sophisticated healthcare systems under enormous pressure.

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While Covid-19 cast a spotlight on the challenges that healthcare systems face throughout the region, there has long been an unmet need in South-east Asia.

Emerging markets comprise 60 per cent of the world’s population today but contribute only 20 per cent of global healthcare spending. By 2050, these same markets are projected to make up 18 of the top 28 economies, with an annual GDP exceeding US$2 trillion.

The rising wave of demand for healthcare in the region is likely to be met with significant supply side constraints such as a shortage of trained medical professionals and a slow pace of innovation that could make access to medical services prohibitively costly for most patients.

The silver lining for Southeast Asia is this – many emerging markets in the region are poised for significant expansion in the coming decade, and healthcare expenditure is expected to grow rapidly.

Compared to the OECD average, South-east Asia is expected to be one of the fastest growing regions in healthcare expenditure, backed by strong macro tailwinds, and significant headroom for growth.

On one hand, regulators and governments play a crucial role in accelerating improvements in public health, raising healthcare quality, and lowering costs.

Many markets in the region such as Indonesia and the Philippines, which only a decade ago were heavily reliant on private healthcare, have launched universal healthcare schemes.

Currently, more than 80 per cent of the populations of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are covered under universal healthcare schemes, albeit with varying levels of coverage.

On the private-provider side, regulators are looking into legislation to lower the costs of care. In some instances, governments have also taken an active role by investing heavily to spur local innovation – for example, biotech hubs in Singapore and “minimum local content” regulations in Indonesia.

Recently, Singapore launched the Healthier SG initiative, which has estimated set up costs of S$1 billion and approximately S$400 million in annual recurring costs. The initiative seeks to transform preventive care through free health screening and vaccinations, with the aim of slowing down the rise in overall healthcare spending over the longer term.

The confluence of these factors precipitates a clear outcome: rapidly expanding healthcare spending coupled with a rising demand for affordable healthcare solutions.

Of course, digital adoption is key to enabling more quality and affordable healthcare. South-east Asia is one of the world’s most mature digital economies, with internet users making up 75 per cent of the population.

Indeed, the pandemic has accelerated and amplified digital healthcare adoption across the region. A good example is the exponential growth of telemedicine over the past couple of years. Telemedicine has helped to improve care and diagnosis by connecting patients and providers separated by large physical distances instantly, and at a lower cost.

Moving forward, we can expect the Covid-fuelled digital adoption to transition smoothly into tangible secular growth. Further, we anticipate more innovations in healthtech o further support the delivery of affordable, quality healthcare, as investors appear to be maintaining a healthy appetite for a piece of South-east Asia’s healthtech market.

While there are numerous encouraging developments in the healthcare space, there is clearly more that needs be done to accelerate affordable access to healthcare across the region.

A collaborative approach, bringing together public and private stakeholders, will be instrumental to help fill existing gaps in healthcare systems and spur public and private innovation to address unmet medical needs, ultimately enabling better healthcare for South-east Asia’s wider community.

The writer is chief executive officer, CBC Group.