Malaysia

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Governance
Firefighters wearing protective suits spray disinfectant at the National Monument area to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Jakarta, Indonesia, on June 17, 2020. Photo shows several workers in bright red protective suits walking though an open area spraying from tanks they carry on their backs. A monument can be seen in the background. REUTERS/Antara Foto/Wahyu Putro

Southeast Asia Needs Its Own CDC

by Swee Kheng Khor, Jeremy Lim, Li Yang Hsu, Jemilah Mahmood

COVID-19 is a baptism by fire and highlights the need for an effective, durable disease control authority in the region

Governance
A Buddhist monk adjusts his protective face mask before a blessing ceremony for the people affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on February 22, 2020. This is a striking image with the monk in the foreground and some very colourful Buddhist temple features in the background. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng

Why is Southeast Asia Responding Differently to COVID-19?

by Swee Kheng Khor

Fundamental differences and objectives between nation states in Southeast Asia influence their responses to COVID-19

People waiting at Fatmawati hospital in Jakarta on May 17, 2013, after Indonesia announced plans to implement nationwide health care, with the aim to covering all Indonesians by the end of the decade. The picture shows a crowded waiting room with a man in the foreground with a red cloth draped over his head and holding what appears to be a bag of ice against his cheek. He looks like he is suffering. REUTERS/Beawiharta.
Trade

The March of Private Health Care in Southeast Asia

by Swee Kheng Khor

How can a government achieve universal coverage for all citizens in a landscape where private care is deeply entrenched?

Migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh in Thailand's southern Songkhla province on May 9, 2015. In 2001 Thailand launched a health insurance scheme for migrants and expanded it to dependents in 2005. Picture shows a triangle of men sitting cross-legged looking at the camera. REUTERS/Surapan Boonthanom.
Migration

The Geopolitics of Polio in Southeast Asia

by Swee Kheng Khor

The risk of re-emergence highlights the looming political choices Southeast Asia now needs to make to protect its people