Future of Healthcare in Asia : Advancing Equity, Ethics and Technology in Asian Healthcare

One of a series of titles on the Futures of Asia, "Future of Healthcare in Asia" comprehensively examines the dramatic and accelerating impact of technological innovation on healthcare systems across the region. The rapid rise of telemedicine, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms is reshaping how healthcare is delivered, accessed, and experienced. At the same time, persistent, longstanding challenges such as cultural taboos, social exclusion, and overstretched public health infrastructures continue to influence and inform healthcare innovation amidst modernisation and futuristic revolution. This book explores how Asia's healthcare future is being forged at the intersection of technology, ethics, and equity. Whether you're a policymaker seeking to shape sustainable and inclusive healthcare policies, a healthcare professional eager to learn how cutting-edge technologies can revolutionise patient care, a researcher exploring emerging trends in Asian healthcare, or simply an individual passionate about the future of healthcare in Asia, this book offers valuable knowledge and empowers you to navigate the complexities of the changing landscape. 

Rong Xiang Ng is an Infectious Diseases physician and medical lecturer at Universiti Malaya (Malaysia) and holds an affiliate lecturer position at the University of Glasgow (UK). He is engaged in understanding and shaping the future of healthcare in Asia. His clinical and research work focuses on optimising clinical pathways and exploring innovative solutions, including digital tools, to address infectious disease challenges across diverse populations. Dr. Ng's contributions to hospital treatment guidelines and research on AI in HIV care and infectious diseases, multidrug-resistant organisms, COVID-19, and telemedicine in sexual health directly reflect the key themes of technological innovation and equitable access explored in this introductory chapter. As a Fellow of the Asia Pacific AIDS & Co-infections Conference (APACC) and an affiliate of the Centre of Excellence for Research in Infectious Diseases and AIDS (CERiA, Universiti Malaya), his active involvement in research and clinical trials bridges the crucial gap between current clinical practice and the forward-looking perspectives presented throughout this book on the future of healthcare in Asia.

Weng Marc Lim is a Distinguished Professor and the Dean of Sunway Business School at Sunway University, an ASU-Cintana Alliance Global Partner Affiliate Faculty at Arizona State University in the United States of America, and an Adjunct Professor at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia and Sungkyunkwan University in the Republic of Korea. Professor Lim is the Record Holder for “Youngest Professor” in the Malaysia Book of Records and features in the Academy of Sciences Malaysia’s Top Research Scientists Malaysia and JCI’s Ten Outstanding Young Malaysians. With over 100 publications in prestigious “A*” and “A” ranked journals, Professor Lim’s research has been cited more than 30,000 times. As a thought leader, Professor Lim has led high-level discussions at AppliedHE, Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), Association of MBAs (AMBA), Business Graduates Association (BGA), Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Times Higher Education (THE), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Principles of Responsible Management Education (UNPRME), and World Economic Forum (WEF). Professor Lim holds a Bachelor of Business and Commerce with First Class Honors and a Doctor of Philosophy from Monash University, and multiple certificates post-PhD, including a Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching (Higher Education) with High Distinction from Swinburne University of Technology and a Certificate in School Management and Leadership from Harvard University.

Huey Fen Cheong is a Senior Lecturer at Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. Her interests have been multidisciplinary, mainly linguistics, sociology, education, marketing, and psychology. Driven by a cultural and postcolonial perspective, she collaborated with a group of established scholars to initiate this Futures of Asia series (which contains this book) and the earlier COVID-19 in Malaysia series. These initiatives aim to promote Global South research and publications, especially on significant events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, post-pandemic normality and transformations, and the rise of AI, which equally matter to non-Western regions and deserve equal scholarly attention (and acceptance) beyond Western-centric frameworks in academia.