Hanoi, Vietnam -- Addressing the ongoing BusinessWeek 2nd ASEAN symposium on Access to Healthcare in Hanoi, Steve Rusckowski, Executive Vice President and CEO of Philips Healthcare, hailed the need for greater collaboration and investment to find solutions to the growing healthcare challenges facing the region. Addressing key representatives from business, government, healthcare and insurance organizations, Rusckowski pointed out how of the vast majority of the population.

"Economic progress in several countries globally hasn't eased the strain on the generally over- burdened, underfunded healthcare system," says Rusckowski. "Millions of people still suffer from diseases or ailments that simply should not exist anywhere on this planet. In the past few years, disease such as dengue fever, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis and malaria have resurfaced. At the same time, the prevalence of chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes, are rising rapidly."

In the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region, the efficient delivery of decent healthcare is often hampered by a lack of infrastructure, especially in rural areas. Combined with other factors such as unclean water, unreliable electricity supply, an absence of Internet connections or sufficient bandwidth, and outdated telecom networks, the ability to get the right information to the right people quickly, through various levels of regional and local authorities is impossible.

Another area of challenge is the retention of healthcare professionals, who are often pulled by other regions that offer higher salaries. For example, nurses from Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as doctors from leading hospitals around the region are enticed to Europe and the Middle East for better pay and prospects.

"Training is also a key area that requires attention. Up to 50 percent of technology imported from developed countries goes unused in developing
economies simply because professionals lack adequate training," explained Rusckowski.

"We must enable doctors and nurses to do what they want to do: give patients their best care. We must work together to lower their workloads and improve their work conditions and job satisfaction. This will not only help to increase productivity, but also to build a sustainable patient-centered healthcare system."

Rusckowski continued by stating that at Philips, the clear vision for a 'patients-first' approach means "we constantly strive to search for and bring the best possible healthcare technologies to meet patients' needs. We aim to provide integrated solutions across the entire cycle of care that includes prevention, early diagnostics and remote patient management -- we need financially sustainable solutions for the patients."

Rusckowski illustrated this point, highlighting that hospitalization poses a tremendous financial burden to the healthcare systems of the future. As such, industry leaders need to focus much more on prevention, screening and early diagnosis. He also addressed the issue of health insurance coverage, which is either not available or not affordable for the majority of the population. Rusckowski referenced how collaborative initiatives like the collective micro-financing of healthcare in countries like the Philippines are helping to address this issue.

Examples of how Philips has applied an innovative approach to develop solutions and drive collaboration among ASEAN constituents from the government, healthcare and insurance sectors include:

The Vamed preferred partnership by which Philips is supporting the modernization of Vietnamese hospitals by supplying equipment to hospitals across the country, under the Ministry of Defense and to the Vietnam Heart Institute.

The Easy Web (E-Web) Healthcare System developed in cooperation with the Philippines Heart Center, Manila, to provide rural populations in the
Philippines with access to quality healthcare through a remote patient management solution that addresses some of the most critical stages of the
healthcare cycle: early detection and aftercare.

Philips has supplied the first Ambient Experience MR Suite to the Malaysian Subang Jaya Medical Centre, the first hospital in the ASEAN region to employ this technology. The Philips Ambient Experience Suite offers patients a calm, reassuring atmosphere so that patients feel more comfortable, minimizing delays due to patient fears and concerns and increasing efficiencies in patient care. Philips' collaboration with the National Health Centre in Singapore on cardiac laboratory imaging is helping to advance clinical validation of new innovative technologies and training on equipment for cardiologists from around the region. As part of a partnership with Phyathai Hospitals in Thailand, Philips is not only supplying equipment and technology, but also jointly developing a training centre.

Through promoting dialogue amongst public and private sector leaders, the BusinessWeek "ASEAN symposium on Access to Healthcare" aims to identify potential solutions to removing barriers to universal quality healthcare. The first symposium was held in Kuala Lumpur in September 2007.