Stopgap or strategy? The real cost of underfunding healthcare in Asean

QUALITY healthcare is a fundamental right and a smart economic strategy. Yet across South-east Asia, access remains uneven and national systems are under-resourced, just as demand is rapidly rising.

Despite ongoing reforms, public healthcare spending across Asean averages just under 4 per cent of gross domestic product, far below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average of over 9 per cent. The implications are clear: overburdened systems, high out-of-pocket payments and unequal outcomes.

Health is just as much of a crisis as an economic one. The World Bank estimates that poor health reduces GDP growth by up to 1.5 per cent annually in lower-middle-income countries, and Asean cannot afford to lose momentum in an increasingly competitive global economy.