Asia-Pacific seeing growth in middle-class population

AS the Asia-Pacific region sees a growth in its middle-class population, so too do health issues, says executive-director of the Apec Secretariat Dr Alan Bollard.
“We are seeing more middle-class issues: Obesity rather than malnutrition, rise of non-communicable diseases and cancers, mental issues, diabetics issues,” he said.
“It is now a region of urbanisation, rather than rural.” Bollard said in the whole agenda of Apec promoting economic growth, health played a critical role and could not be overlooked.
“We have been part of this huge exercise, whereby something like half a billion people in the Asia-Pacific region have come out of poverty,” he said.
“It is a region which is marked by a very strong ageing trends – much faster than much of the rest of the world.
“Of course, health becomes a critical issue. We want to see health finance improve, quality health services, promotion of universal health coverage.
“Ultimately all these issues are about increasing growth.”
Bollard said Apec Secretariat did not lay down rules that must be followed.
“We do not have compulsory requirement and dispute resolutions systems,”he said.
“Apec continues to be the way which we can go forward…taking best practice, promoting it and looking at ways so we can help move the whole region going forward.”