PULSE OF ASIA

The Health of
Asia Barometer
Challenges and opportunities
for health and well-being

Supported by:
2 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

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© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

 The Health of Asia Barometer:
44 Health
An of Asia Barometer:
information challenge Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

Foreword

Prudential is proud to support the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)

in taking on its first Pulse of Asia – The Health of Asia Barometer in 13
Asian markets. Our aim is to shine a light on the challenges people in
the region face to improve their health and well-being.

This report could not have been more timely. Covid-19 has highlighted
the importance of personal and societal health and has motivated
many businesses, including ours, to examine how we can enhance the
access and delivery of healthcare during the pandemic. Throughout
2020 we have re-aligned our priorities to deliver what matters most to
our customers and our communities.

What this research clearly highlights is the demand for recognised

tools and services to be made available to vast segments of people
across Asia: 78.5% of respondents use some form of personal health
technology. Millions are looking for the ability and support to help them
better navigate the healthcare system, and as a result, improve the way
they manage their health and well-being. One trend is that many in the
region are turning to informal sources, such as social media, for this advice.

People in Asia often believe that their future will be financially healthier.
This report reveals the same optimism when it comes to health and
well-being. The underlying belief is that the region will recover from
the devastation that covid-19 has brought to so many families. There
will eventually be a return to the levels of socio-economic growth and
development that previously transformed societies across Asia, that
lifted many millions out of poverty.

Prudential is proud to have been part of this regional dynamism for

many years, providing protection and peace of mind to millions. What
we are doing now is leading the way in redefining what access to health
and well-being looks like for millions more.

The research informs us of people’s sentiment on the affordability

and accessibility of healthcare, which technology could help address.
While 54% of respondents said medical care was easily accessible and
affordable to them, 71% said that three years from now, they would be
using more technologies to improve their health and well-being.

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being 1

Making digital healthcare a reality is an integral part of our efforts.

Through our app, Pulse by Prudential, we are helping people protect,
prevent and postpone diseases. Pulse delivers health information
and advice as well as access to medical professionals - all through the
touch of a button. We continue to build Pulse, our all-in-one AI-driven
healthcare app, bringing in partners that will help us support people’s
journey to physical, mental and financial health. We believe this will in
turn enable people to live well, for longer.

I want to thank the EIU and the subject matter experts for their deep
insights on the important debate about improving people’s health and
well-being in Asia. At Prudential, we remain committed to be an active
voice in that debate, in the service of our customers and communities.

Nic Nicandrou
Chief Executive
Prudential Corporation Asia

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

2 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

About the research

The inaugural Pulse of Asia: Health of Asia Barometer is a report written

by The Economist Intelligence Unit and supported by Prudential.
It explores the challenges that Asian societies face in efforts to
improve citizens’ health and wellness. The analysis in it is based
on a survey of 5,000 people conducted in the second half of 2020.

The respondents hail from Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia,

Laos, mainland China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore,
Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. They range in age from 21 to 55,
with 49% aged between 25 and 34, and 31% between 35 and 44.
The respondents have different income levels and are split roughly
evenly between males and females. A wide range of occupations
is represented in the sample, as well as various categories of
non-employment.

Additional insights were obtained from in-depth interviews with

executives in health institutions, companies and government
administration. We would like to thank the following for their time:

• Edward Booty, chief executive officer, reach52

• Ryoji Noritake, chief executive officer, Health and Global Policy

Institute

• Rashmi Sharma, global learning & wellbeing lead, Unilever South

East Asia & ANZ

• Dr Wang Ying-wei, director general, Health Promotion

Administration, Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare

• Singapore Health Promotion Board

The report was written by Denis McCauley and edited by Michael Frank
and Charles Ross.

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

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© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

1 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

Executive summary

The world is facing its gravest health crisis in a century, giving people
a stronger incentive to focus on personal health and wellness.
By and large, people living in Asia do not need to be convinced of
the connection between their diet, physical exercise, stress levels
and other facets of personal health on the one hand, and their
susceptibility to disease on the other. This is thanks to years of public
health education campaigns by international organisations and
governments and, more recently, the growth of a wellness industry.
Awareness, however, does not necessarily lead to action by individuals
to improve their personal health, as this report has found.

We surveyed 5,000 people in Asia to find out what they are doing to
manage their personal health and wellness, the resources they use to
do it, and the challenges they face in the process. The results point to a
population more than minimally aware of the benefits that accompany
a healthy lifestyle, but in many parts of the region, constrained in
building one. The challenge for policymakers is finding innovative
ways—either alone or in conjunction with the private sector— to
increase citizens’ access to reliable health and wellness information,
advice and services.

Defining health and wellness

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), health is

a “state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and
not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.1 Wellness may
be summarised as the practices people pursue and the lifestyle
choices they make that contribute to a state of personal health.
According to the Global Wellness Institute, the dimensions of
wellness are physical (exercise, diet, sleep), mental, emotional,
spiritual, social and environmental.2

For the purposes of our research and analysis, we subscribe to

these definitions of health and wellness.

1 Constitution of the World Health Organisation (from the WHO website). https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/constitution#:~:text=Health%20
is%20a%20state%20of,absence%20of%20disease%20or%20infirmity.
2 Global Wellness Institute website. https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/what-is-wellness/

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being 2

The main findings of the research are as follows:

Ample information does not necessarily lead to good health

decisions. Survey respondents have no shortage of personal
health information available to them, although the quality of the
information varies. A slight majority of respondents report sourcing
health information from social media; a far lower proportion consult
formal medicine. Overload is a problem as well, especially in the wake
of the pandemic: for 53% the volume of information available is so
overwhelming that they don’t know what to focus on.

Respondents are seeking more control over their physical as well

as mental health. Awareness of the connection between wellness
and disease has been growing, driven by the covid-19 pandemic. Over
half of those surveyed (52%) have taken two or more measures in the
past three months to improve their personal health, mainly by engaging
in more physical exercise and changing eating habits, cited by 34%
and 29%, respectively. Around one-quarter (24%) have also sought to
improve their mental health, a need underscored by the 34% who say
the covid-19 crisis has caused them greater stress, anxiety or depression.

Income levels do not dictate health and wellness optimism. The Health
of Asia Barometer developed for this report reveals a striking contrast
between the less and more developed markets in the region. Citizens of
the former are considerably more positive than those of the latter about the
state of their personal health and its near-term outlook, as well as about
their ability to manage their health and wellness. The exceptions to this
revolve around financial constraints and access to facilities.

Low affordability limits people’s scope of action to live more healthily.

Financial considerations constrain 56% of survey respondents from taking
action to improve their health and wellness. The figures are higher in less
developed markets such as Thailand and Vietnam. Half of the respondents
also cite limited access to exercise or other facilities as an impediment.

Digital health technologies are popular but need to work harder

for citizens. Survey respondents use a wide variety of personal health
tools, including smart watches, smart thermometers and blood pressure
monitors. Experts interviewed for this report say the value of such
technologies can be enhanced if they can connect to centralised data
repositories, such as patient health records, a reality today only in the
region’s developed markets.

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

3 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

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 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being 4

Health awareness and action

Thanks to public health education campaigns,
growing consumerism that prizes good
health and physique, and other influences,
people’s awareness of the need to live healthy
lifestyles has grown steadily in recent years.3
This is the case even in rural areas of lower-
income countries where, according to
Edward Booty, CEO of digital health services
provider reach52, there is much greater
understanding than before of the factors
that contribute to disease.
Such heightened awareness may explain the
propensity to take proactive measures to
improve personal health. In the past three
months, over half of those in our survey (52%)
have taken two or more such steps based
on information or advice they received from
social media, health websites, public health
authorities or other sources. Such measures
have most often involved taking more physical
exercise, cited by 34% of respondents, and
changing their diet, cited by 29%.

The global pandemic has helped open
people’s eyes more widely to the nexus
between lifestyles and disease. This is the
case in Taiwan, says Dr Wang Ying-wei, who
is director general of the Health Promotion
Administration at the Ministry of Health and
Welfare. “There is a press conference virtually
every day that makes clear to citizens how
their personal health practices are helping to
control the virus,” he says.
Just under one-quarter of those surveyed
(24%) have acted in the past three months
to improve their emotional well-being or
mental health. Those steps are important
in light of 34% of respondents reporting
elevated stress, anxiety or even depression
as a result of covid-19. Large numbers of
respondents also say the crisis has affected
their sleep and eating habits (cited by 28%
and 25%, respectively).

Figure 1: Measures taken to improve personal health and wellness

(Measures taken by respondents in the past three months)

Increased the amount of physical exercise I engage in 34%

Changed my diet 29%
Measures to improve my emotional well-being/ mental health 24%
Measures to improve my sleep 22%
Had a health check-up 19%
Measures to reduce work-related or other stress 18%
Began shopping from healthy food stores/providers 15%
Measures to improve the quality of my water intake 15%
Measures to improve the quality of air in or near my home 13%
Eliminated or reduced my alcohol consumption 11%
Quit or cut back on smoking 8%

Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit

1 For a discussion of the steps that Singaporeans, for example, have been taking to prepare for longer life spans that could involve chronic disease,
see Ready for 100? Preparing for longevity in Singapore, a report written by The Economist Intelligence Unit in 2018 and commissioned by
Prudential. https://readyfor100.economist.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/20180924-ECO035-Ready-for-100-Whitepaper-Spread.pdf

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

5 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

Over one-fifth of respondents (22%) have
taken no measures at all to improve their
health during this period. (This number is
considerably higher than the average in
Cambodia, Myanmar and even Singapore). “I
don’t feel the need to take action,” is the most
oft-cited explanation for inactivity—surely a
concern as health and wellness usually need
personal attention just to remain stable.
Another common excuse is “not enough time”.
Building awareness is only half
the battle
Awareness does not always lead to action.
“In some countries, there is a huge disconnect
between awareness and incentives to take
action,” says Mr Booty. As an example, he
points to the affordability of fast food in
Philippine cities and towns, and the effect
this has on obesity levels. Physical activity
is seemingly less of a problem. “In the
Philippines, basketball and Zumba fitness
classes are common, even in the countryside.”
The bigger problem affecting personal health
there, he says, is poor diet—as well as, more
broadly, an acute shortage of doctors to obtain
advice from.
Affordability—whether of good quality food,
exercise facilities or health technologies—is
a significant constraint to adopting healthier
lifestyles in Asia. Across the survey sample as
a whole, 56% say financial constraints make
it difficult to take measures to improve their
health and wellness, an inhibitor felt especially
keenly in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. Half
(50%) also say that limited access to exercise
or other facilities make health improvement
difficult for them.

Figure 2: Affordability of personal health improvement

(% of respondents agreeing that financial constraints will make it difficult for them to improve
their personal health and wellness over the next year)

Agree Strongly agree

24%
30% 28% 22% 21% 16% 15%
19% 23% 12%
18% 12% 7%
16%

48% 42% 42% 42%

37% 41% 42% 41% 40%
35% 35% 35%
31% 29%

Asia average Thailand Vietnam Malaysia Philippines Laos India Indonesia Cambodia Myanmar Singapore Hong Mainland Taiwan
Kong China

Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being
The Health of Asia Barometer: A contrast in perceptions
Using responses to eight survey questions, The
Economist Intelligence Unit constructed a benchmark
that provides a view into how people in Asia feel
about the current state of their personal health,
their management of it and its future trajectory.4
The barometer values reveal a striking contrast
between the perceptions of those living in Asia’s
less developed markets and those in its more
developed ones: the former are more positive about
their health, and their control over it, than the latter. 5
The barometer shows residents of India representing
the most positive view of their own health, with a
value of 59 out of 100. Close behind follow those from
Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines. At the other end of
the scale, with a value of 46.5, are Hong Kong residents,
the most pessimistic in the study; their peers from
Singapore and Taiwan are only slightly more positive.
Figure 3: Health of Asia barometer, overall values
53.6 54.0
50.8 51.0 52.6
47.3
46.5
Hong Kong Singapore Taiwan Myanmar Laos Mainland China Cambodia
Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit
4 The barometer will be updated in future years, in order to gauge how people’s view of their own health and wellness, and their ability to manage it,
is changing over time.
5 We provide here a high-level discussion of the barometer findings. For a detailed look into category and indicator values in each country,
see pulseofasia.economist.com
6
The barometer values are generated from responses
to eight survey questions that relate to respondents’
self-assessed health and wellness status, the extent
of recent health improvement, and the prospects
for its improvement in the near future. Another set
of questions asks respondents about the extent
to which they seek health and wellness information,
from which sources, their use of health technologies,
and the constraints they face in seeking to improve
their health.
The survey responses are converted to barometer
values that fall along a 0-100 scale, with 100 being
the best possible score. The eight indicators are
equally weighted, with the three categories—health
status, managing heath and future health outlook—
reflective of the number of indicators.
57.5 57.8 58.5 59.0
54.0 55.1
Malaysia Thailand Philippines Indonesia Vietnam India
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021
7 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

Health status and future health outlook Managing health

The barometer values in these two categories—
which broadly mirror each other in terms of the
relative position of markets—indicate that survey
respondents as a whole feel positive about
their personal health and wellness and what lies
immediately ahead for it. When it comes to overall
health, every country registers a barometer value
of more than 70. Respondents’ assessment of their
current wellness (lifestyle and emotional well-being) is
also positive: only Hong Kong and Singapore register
values of under 60. The category value is pulled down
in each country by an indicator of how frequently
respondents have taken steps in recent months to
improve their health. Although most have taken
more than one such step (see earlier discussion),
the barometer values generated are more modest
than those for the other indicators.  and physical access as more of a barrier than those in,
The comparatively low values in this category across
all markets (none exceed 50) point to the difficulties
that many people face in adopting healthier lifestyles.
By and large, the availability of health and wellness
information is not one of them, as we discuss
later—although people’s ability to access accredited
information is suspect. Access to technology does
not seem to be a major constraint. More than 60% of
survey respondents in each country affirmed their
access to relevant technology in managing their health.
Financial constraints and physical access to exercise
facilities are larger barriers for many. In these two areas
the positions of the more and less developed markets are
reversed from the general pattern: respondents in markets
such as Vietnam and Thailand cite financial constraints
for example, Taiwan, mainland China or Hong Kong.

Figure 4: Barometer categories

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Hong Kong Singapore Taiwan Myanmar Laos Mainland China Cambodia Malaysia Thailand Philippines Indonesia Vietnam India

Current health status Managing health Future health outlook

Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit

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 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being 8

The disparity between this category score and the
others suggests that respondents in all the surveyed
markets may not in reality be doing enough to justify
the positive assessment of their own health. If that is
the case, it could point to problems ahead in terms of
their mental health and their susceptibility to disease.
Should the covid-19 crisis drag out further, their
current health optimism will be put to a bigger test.
Reality check?
Are respondents from Asia’s less developed markets
overly optimistic about their health, and those from
the others unduly pessimistic? There are no objective
means to make that judgment. Health perceptions are
negatively correlated with average life expectancy. The
latter figures for Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan
are among the highest in the world, but residents are
relatively downbeat about their personal health.
One possible explanation lies in better education
and information availability in wealthier places.
The link between personal health and chronic
disease—and therefore longevity—can sober
people about health risks and what it takes to
manage them. At the other end of the scale,
the considerably lower life expectancy figures
in markets such as India, Cambodia and the
Philippines (although steadily rising in all for
several years) could indicate that their citizens’
optimism is more a product of cultural attitudes
than actual health outcomes. Health authorities
in those markets may find their efforts to provide
more targeted health and wellness education an
uphill battle, owing to lower levels of health literacy,
falsely optimistic personal health assumptions and
less developed communication channels.

Figure 5: Average life expectancy (2018) and overall barometer scores

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Hong Kong Singapore Taiwan Myanmar Laos Mainland China Cambodia Malaysia Thailand Philippines Indonesia Vietnam India

Life expectancy 2018 HAB

Sources: World Bank, World Development Indicators; The Economist Intelligence Unit

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

9 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

A wealth of information

The citizens of most Asian countries can have
few complaints about a shortage of information
on what constitutes a healthy lifestyle and
good personal health practices. Besides
periodic education campaigns run by public
health authorities and NGOs, locally oriented
wellness websites and wellness businesses have
proliferated across Asia in recent years.6 Should
these sources prove insufficient, social media
channels provide individuals with a plethora
of opportunities to obtain information and
advice almost on-demand.
In the three months prior to taking the survey,
50% of respondents obtained personal health
and wellness information from social media—
the most frequently cited source. Family
and friends are another common source of
information, as are health advice websites
and the public authorities.
The most useful of these, as rated by the
survey respondents, are national government
and public health authorities. According to
Ryoji Noritake, CEO of the Health and Global
Policy Institute, a not-for-profit think tank,
the value that people attach to government-
sourced information on personal health is
in line with the deference typically shown
toward government experts and their advice
on a range of issues. The family doctor and
health advice websites trail closely behind
government in information utility. Social
media, although rated highly, has slightly
less utility for people than the other sources,
judging by the responses.

Figure 6: The usefulness of different sources of personal health and wellness information
(% of respondents assessing each source as extremely useful or useful)

National government and public health authorities 32% 38%

GP/family doctor 33% 35%
Health advice websites 35% 32%
Local government and public health authorities 32% 34%
Social media 33% 30%
Television and radio 32% 29%
Relatives and friends 35% 26%
Smartphone health apps 31% 28%
Traditional medicine providers 30% 18%

Useful Extremely useful

Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit

6 The Asian Development Bank estimates that the wellness economy has grown by an average of 10% annually in nine Asian countries since 2010 and
accounted for about 11% of their combined GDP in 2017. Asian Development Outlook 2020 Update, Theme Chapter: Wellness in Worrying Times,
September 2020. https://www.adb.org/what-we-do/economic-forecasts/september-2020/theme-chapter#wellness-asia

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

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Figure 7: Where too much health information can be problematic

(% of respondents agreeing that “The amount of information available about health and
wellness is so overwhelming, I don’t know what to focus on”)

Asia 40% 13%

Mainland China 41% 19%
Laos 46% 11%
India 38% 19%
Taiwan 47% 9%
Vietnam 36% 18%
Malaysia 42% 11%
Cambodia 41% 11%
Thailand 39% 13%
Philippines 39% 11%
Myanmar 43% 6%
Hong Kong 38% 10%
Singapore 35% 7%
Indonesia 28% 9% Agree Strongly agree

Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit

Too much of a good thing?

This abundance of health information is a
two-edged sword. The sheer volume and
variety available can make it difficult for
people to make the right decisions on diet,
exercise and other aspects of personal health
improvement. Over half of the respondents
(53%) say the amount of information available
about health and wellness is so overwhelming,
they don’t know what to focus on.
“Information overload is a defining feature
of our times,” says Mr Noritake, affecting
health and many other aspects of daily
life. A by-product of this, he says, is often
conflicting advice and information on core
health prevention issues. Mr Booty agrees,
noting that there are even debates within
communities as to what constitutes high
blood pressure. “People will get different,
often conflicting information about this from
social media, from the internet, and from
family and friends.”
The pandemic has added considerably
to health information overload—and
misinformation—notes Dr Wang. “More
isn’t always better when it comes to health
information,” he says. “We [government
authorities] must ensure that people are
getting the correct information.” With
digital technology increasingly integral to
how people receive health information,
governments may need to partner with
private-sector firms to share capabilities
and provide the information people need.

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

11 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

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© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

13 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

The digital factor

Smartphone penetration across the by more than 20% of respondents). Among

Asia-Pacific region stood at 67% in 2019,
according to the GSM Association, a
mobile industry group.7 That connectivity
extends to wearables that act as fitness
aids and monitors such as smart watches
or wristbands. According to one source,
penetration of such devices is higher in Asia
Pacific (at 22% of internet users) than in any
other region of the world. 8
That affinity for health technologies is
reflected in our survey. It shows a wide variety
of digital devices that individuals in the region
use to improve their personal health. Top of the
list in popularity are blood pressure monitors,
followed closely by smart watches, smart body
temperature thermometers, wearable fitness
trackers and intelligent weight scales (all used
the technologies that respondents do not
yet use, the adoption of wearable monitors
(measuring indicators such as heart rate, sleep
and oxygen levels) looks likely to grow fastest
over the next year. Just 29% of those surveyed
say they are uncomfortable using personal
health technologies.
Digital health, of course, consists of more
than gadgets. Online services connecting
people to doctors and other providers of
health advice—including advice on disease
prevention—are sprouting throughout the
region. For example, the health apps and
services of China tech giants Tencent, Alibaba
and JD.com have reportedly experienced
strong user growth as well as new investment
since the onset of covid-19.9

Figure 8: Taking control with digital health devices

(% of respondents using different personal health technologies)

Blood pressure monitor 27%

Smart watch 26%
Smart thermometer 25%
Wearable fitness tracker 24%
Intelligent weight scales 22%
Wearable health monitor (for heart rate, oxygen level, sleep, etc) 20%
A digital platform (e.g. app) to speak directly with a health professional 18%
A digital platform (e.g. app) that uses AI to diagnose or manage your health 17%
Air quality monitor 15%
Glucose meter 13%
I do not use personal health technologies 22%

Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit

7 GSM Association, The Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2020, July 2020. https://www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/asiapacific/
8 “Wearables: Now a Health Essential?”, GlobalWebIndex, December 17, 2019. https://blog.globalwebindex.com/chart-of-the-week/are-wearables-
the-new-health-essential/
9 See, for example, “China’s digital health care start-ups get a boost from the coronavirus, Beijing and investors”, CNBC, September 10, 2020. https://
www.cnbc.com/2020/09/11/chinas-digital-health-care-start-ups-get-a-boost-from-the-coronavirus-beijing-and-investors.html

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being
One of the better-known digital health
platforms in South-East Asia is DoctorOnCall,
launched by a Malaysian start-up, Health
Digital Technologies, in 2017. Pandemic-
related growth in local demand for health
advice has led the firm to launch multiple
new ventures with partners in 2020.10 Similar
examples of digital health services can be
found in Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong
and other Asian markets.
Digital health devices and services such as
those described above can help fill the gap
in many Asian markets left by understaffed
health systems, particularly where doctors are
not available to provide advice. Indeed, people’s
affinity for health technologies in the region’s
less developed markets offers the potential of
making up ground on their more developed
neighbours in terms of access to health services.
Augmenting the power of digital
As useful as personal health devices are,
Mr Noritake says, their value to citizens can
be greatly enhanced if they are connected to
centralised repositories of health information.
Currently, this is only possible in the region’s
more developed markets such as Singapore,
mainland China, South Korea and Taiwan
(and, to a lesser extent, Japan), he says.
In Asia’s less-developed markets, says
Mr Booty, poor data connectivity and
the absence of centralised health data
restricts the usefulness of wearables, blood
pressure monitors and other personal
health technologies. “There needs to be
an ecosystem for patient-centred digital
innovation to flourish that are designed for
10 “An overview of Malaysia’s digital health landscape”, Healthcare IT News, July 1, 2020. https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/asia-pacific/
overview-malaysia-s-digital-health-landscape
11 Information provided to The EIU by the Health Promotion Board; see also “Apple and Singapore to reward health-monitoring smartwatch users”,
Financial Times, September 23, 2020 https://www.ft.com/content/0185de62-b790-4819-903d-d182bada2295
12 Information provided to The EIU by the Health Promotion Board
14
lower-income communities,” he says. “Many
innovations aimed at middle-income countries
or cities just won’t work there.”
Governments in Asia need little convincing
of the merits of citizens’ adoption of digital
health technologies, although some—such
as Singapore’s—are more proactive than
others in promoting it. An example of that
government’s approach is its recent tie-
up with a technology company to make a
personal health app available to Singaporeans
using a smart watch. The app helps users
to meet weekly activity goals, make healthy
food choices and keep up with immunisation
and health screening. The government’s
Health Promotion Board (HPB) entices people
to download and use the app by offering
monetary rewards for meeting personal
wellness goals.11
Another HPB mobile app is “Healthy 365”.
In addition to helping users to monitor their
diet and physical activity, it encourages
healthy eating through partnerships with
food and beverage providers and retailers.
By scanning the QR codes of healthy food
and drink purchases into the app, users can
earn and redeem points with HPB’s partners.12
Governments in Asia have traditionally
been conservative about involving the
private sector in healthcare. The Singapore
government’s initiatives suggest that this
could be changing, at least in the area of
personal health and wellness. According
to Dr Wang, Singapore’s personal health
initiatives are a model for other governments
in the region, including his own. Among the
lessons taken is how to forge partnerships
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021
15 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being
with business to promote healthy lifestyles.
The Health Promotion Administration that he
manages has, for example, begun discussions
with healthtech companies to encourage
greater adoption of wearable health devices.
“This is a starting point,” says Dr Wang, “and
we plan to involve Taiwan businesses in our
public health efforts in the future.”
Businesses on the frontlines of wellness
“We see wellness as a business driver,” says
Rashmi Sharma, who is the global learning
& wellbeing lead at Unilever South East
Asia & ANZ. In Asia, few governments or
health authorities make that connection,
she says, but many businesses have begun
to. “Companies are providing a lot more
training now for employees about how to
look after personal health and wellness—
not just their own but also that of their
families,” says Ms Sharma. This is a trend
that predates the pandemic.
Governments should push businesses to
do more to help employees look after
their well-being, Ms Sharma believes.
One option, in her view, is to mandate
that organisations focus on health in
their employee engagement activities.
Another is to form an expert taskforce
13 “ Singapore’s mClinica partners with Philippines FDA to create country’s first national health database”, mClinica press release, October 29, 2018.
https://www.mclinica.com/singapores-mclinica-partners-with-philippines-fda/
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021
Asian companies, too—in technology and
other sectors—clearly have a role to play in
initiatives that encourage citizens to look
after their personal health. An example of
what’s possible is offered by Singapore-
based healthtech company mClinica, which
is partnering with the Philippines’ Food and
Drug Administration to build an integrated
national health information system.13
that highlights the role that physical
and mental health play in driving higher
business performance. Such a taskforce
could include advisers or coaches who help
companies to expand and better target the
health and wellness support they provide
to employees. Helplines could also be set
up that employees can call for personal
health advice. Such initiatives must give
as much priority to addressing employees’
mental health as their physical health, says
Ms Sharma, as both are equally integral to
performance.
Government prodding of businesses
through such measures can be effective,
but mandates will work better, believes
Ms Sharma. “That will do more to bring
conversations about health and wellness
into the mainstream in our societies.”
Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being 16

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

17 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being
Conclusion: Implications for health policy
Governments and other health sector actors in
Asia have by no means been inactive in nudging
their citizens to adopt healthier lifestyles.
This research points, however, to some areas
where public actions to achieve this end can
be expanded, re-targeted or refined:
Act now to improve the health information
audiences are getting. People are highly
receptive—especially now—to information
related to their health and wellness. The
pandemic serves as a daily reminder of the
importance of healthy living, not least to
put off the onset of chronic disease. But
the crisis also underscores the importance
of raising the quality of information on
offer. Governments can set an example
by improving the information they provide.
Digital health ecosystems, supported by
open and fair data governance, have great
potential to support health management.
In health as in so many other realms, the power
of data is magnified when it is augmented
by other related information. Creating a
digital health ecosystem connecting data
from personal health devices and services to
patient health records, where they exist, or
to other centralised repositories, can benefit
both individuals and health authorities. The
foundation is data governance that balances
the needs of commerce and the legitimate
privacy concerns of consumers.
18
Involve the private sector. Governments
should highlight the importance of employee
health and wellness to business performance,
and by extension to economic growth.
They should encourage, or even mandate,
companies to provide training and support
to employees in managing their personal
health. And they should collaborate with
businesses to advance health promotion
initiatives (see below).
Collaboration between governments
and businesses needed to drive digital
healthcare. With digital technology
increasingly integral to how people manage
their health, governments should involve
technology firms in partnerships to devise
innovative ways of promoting healthier
lifestyles. The partnerships that the Singapore
government is pioneering should provide
useful lessons to other governments as those
initiatives play out.
Treat mental health on par with physical
health. The toll that covid-19 is taking on
people’s mental health and emotional well-
being is well-documented the world over,
Asia included. The effects are likely to be
felt long after the virus is defeated. It’s not
easy everywhere in the region to talk about
mental health openly: governments need to
encourage such discussion.
© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021
 The Health of Asia Barometer:
19
19 Health
An of Asia Barometer:
information challenge Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

Prudential Insight

Tackling the health protection gap

Prudential is developing next-generation health and wealth solutions

and delivering them through its OnePulse ecosystem, putting control
of health and wealth in people’s hands.

OnePulse is designed to address some of Asia’s biggest health and

wealth challenges, at scale. It is part of Prudential’s broader strategy
to make healthcare more affordable and accessible for everyone
across Asia and Africa, by leveraging digital technologies and best-in-
class partnerships.

The OnePulse includes Pulse by Prudential (Pulse), an all-in-one

health app and first-of-its-kind in Asia, that offers holistic health
management, taking healthcare to a new level of engagement.
The strength of the ecosystem lies in its ability to harness the power
of technology and data across interconnected systems. Through
Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered tools and real-time information,
Pulse empowers users to take control of their health and well-being
anytime, anywhere.

With Pulse, Prudential is helping address the sizable and growing

health protection gap, which is underpinned by escalating medical
costs and a rise in chronic and non-communicable diseases. In 2017,
this gap was US$1.8 trillion in Asia alone.14

While insurers have traditionally solely focused on protecting

customers, Pulse has enabled Prudential to provide more holistic
support across the critical stages in a person’s health journey.
Prudential believes that insurers can play a more preventive role
alongside protection to address the growing health burden. With
Pulse, Prudential will help users prevent, postpone and protect
against the onset of diseases.

14 https://www.swissre.com/institute/research/topics-and-risk-dialogues/economy-and-insurance-outlook/asia-health-protection-gap-report.html

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

 The Health of Asia Barometer:
Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities An
for information
health and well-being
challenge 20
20

Within 15 months from launch, Pulse has been downloaded over 12

million times across 11 Asian markets.

Pulse provides users with access to a range of innovative solutions

from global and local partners. At the heart of the ecosystem is a
symptom checker - an AI-powered chatbot that provides users with
a better understanding of worrying symptoms and directs them to
healthcare professionals for further advice, and a health assessment,
which, based on a digital questionnaire, creates a health report with
insights into potential long-term disease risks represented through the
“Digital Twin”, a graphic representation of the human body.

Through Pulse, users can also do video consultations with board-

certified doctors who will provide a diagnosis and recommend the
appropriate treatment, whenever applicable. Users may also have their
prescribed medicine delivered or collect it at designated pharmacies.

Other key features include personalised wellness services, health

awareness content, a hospital navigator, as well as market-specific
solutions such as a dengue outbreak predictor and an air pollution index.

Pulse is an evolving platform where new partners, functionalities and

features will be added in phases. The ecosystem will over time feature
more value-added offerings to further support users’ health and
wellness journey.

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

21 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being

While every effort has been taken to verify the accuracy of this
information, The Economist Intelligence Unit Ltd. cannot accept any
responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this report or
any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out in this report.
The findings and views expressed in the report do not necessarily
reflect the views of the sponsor.

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being 22

© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021

 Health of Asia Barometer: Challenges and opportunities for health and well-being 23

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