The cause for liver cancer in Asia is undergoing a transition from viral to non-viral factors, with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease emerging as a leading risk factor.   Liver cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths around the world. Up to 1,837 people die from liver cancer every day, which is roughly 76 people every hour. In Asia alone, liver cancer is identified as the fifth most common cancer and second most common cause of cancer-related death.   While significant advances have been made in early diagnosis and surgical resection of liver cancer during the ..read more

The rising prevalence of chronic kidney disease signals an urgent need for immediate intervention.   Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an emerging public health concern which affects one in 10 (13.4%) adults and accounts for millions of premature deaths worldwide. In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked CKD as the 10th leading cause of death and is expected to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2040.   Characterised by the irreversible and progressive loss of kidney function, CKD causes excess fluid, waste and electrolytes to build up in the blood. As the ..read more

Improving awareness and treatment of rare diseases requires concerted effort from all stakeholders, particularly patient advocacy groups, to drive policy changes from the ground up.   By definition, rare diseases refer to medical conditions with a specific pattern of clinical signs, symptoms, and findings that affects fewer than or equal to 1 in 2000 persons. Collectively, there are approximately 6,000 to 8,000 diseases identified as rare, which affect about 400 million sufferers worldwide or 3% to 8% of the global population.   In Southeast Asia, the rare disease landscape and ..read more

Patients and their healthcare practitioners (HCPs) must see each other as partners to improve healthcare design and delivery, but increasing treatment costs remain a concern.   In Northern America, Europe and Australia, the Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) has become a model for systematic patient engagement and patient- and family-centric care. It has also been recognised as a method of improving patient experience and patient safety.   According to a 2018 report on PFACs in New York State hospitals, hospitals with high-functioning PFACs reported better patient satisfacti ..read more

Holidays are typically a season of joyous celebrations, when relatives return from abroad and families get together. However, they can also trigger intense feelings of loneliness in the elderly. Many of us in Asia are gearing up for a slew of festivities in the coming months, with Christmas just past, the New Year almost upon us, and Chinese New Year fast approaching. Thanks to the religious and cultural diversity in countries such as Malaysia, holidays and festivals come around multiple times a year, and with them, many social gatherings.   However, not everyone experiences holidays and ..read more

It's a good time to be in medical and healthcare communications In recent years we have seen unprecedented advances in medicines for all kinds of diseases. The groundbreaking mRNA technology used to create COVID-19 vaccines is now being used to develop vaccines and therapies for other diseases such as autoimmune disease, cancer, and heart disease. Novel technologies such as therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, gene therapies, and targeted cancer therapies have also come to market in recent years. Advances are not limited to medicines; diagnostics has also seen great progress. There are genetic ..read more

Effective communication is a crucial aspect of any clinical practice, especially one specialising in aesthetic medicine. While effective communication skills in healthcare can impact patient safety, quality of care, and workplace efficiency, these skills are often neglected in formal medical education. Although all undergraduate medical students enrolled in a Malaysian study agreed soft skills are essential for physicians, they tend to focus on technical skills during their education. A Singapore study highlighted young physicians often struggle with communication due to their use of complex ..read more

Experts say it takes a village to normalise conversation on mental health issues and improve youths' access to mental health support. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in seven or 14% of young people aged 10-19 years’ experience mental health conditions, which are largely untreated. Globally, mental disorders account for a significant portion of disease burden in youths, but unfortunately these disorders are not detected until much later in life. Studies have found that the incidence of mental disorders peak during adolescence. Up to one in five people experience clinicall ..read more

Not paying to win an enterpreneurial award and what it means, according to Bridges M&C's Founder and Regional Account Director ,Nanny Eliana People have often asked me what drove me to work for myself, to which I would reply, “Necessity,” followed by, “Passion is overrated.” It was circa 2004; a time of false starts. After joining three publishing companies as a writer, I decided I was not going to waste another day working for bullies. The last one summoned me to a conference room, and flanked by several scowling senior editors, screamed I was not cut out to be a writer. After I had left ..read more

COVID-19 social-distancing and travel restrictions have begun to ease or lift in some countries, but the scientific and medical communities are not celebrating. The risk of another pandemic is a statistical certainty; it’s not so much a question of if, but when it will happen. COVID-19 took the world by surprise when it began spreading at a rapid pace in early 2020. Even the wealthiest countries, most powerful governments and robust healthcare systems were brought to their knees by the deadly virus and its exponential spread around the globe. But why did this happen, when epidemiologists and ..read more