Healthcare

• China's online sales penetration will continue to rise further from 21% in 2019 and 25% YTD 2020, while online provision of other services including remote working, education, health care and financial services will also grow rapidly.
• Retail health represents a fraction of health spending in the US, but we expect to see significant growth over the next five years.
• Asia and the Pacific will need to invest $26.2 trillion during 2016-2030 (or $1.7 trillion per year) for infrastructure (excluding soft services such as health and education) to maintain growth.
• Guided by science, the UK's COP26 presidency will promote a clean, inclusive and resilient recovery from Covid-19 which creates sustainable jobs and addresses the urgent and linked challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and public health.
• US Medicare spending is projected to account for about four-fifths of the increase in spending for the major health care programs over the next 30 years.
• Growth in spending for Social Security, the major health care programs, and interest would reshape the spending patterns of the U.S. government by 2050.
• The World Health Organisation estimates a shortfall of 18 million health workers to accelerate universal health coverage by 2030, particularly in low to middle income countries.
• Countries such as Germany and Switzerland continued to transfer people despite the health risks, albeit at low numbers.
• The world faces a shortfall of 18 million health workers to accelerate universal health coverage by 2030, particularly in low and lower-middle-income countries.
• The defining feature of the COVID-19 pandemic is its widescale effect on health and seeming ability to infect anyone with relative ease - with certain subpopulations being more at risk (e.g. elderly, diabetics)..
• Reaching the World Health Organisation targets for air quality could boost the UK economy by £1.6bn a year.
• The UK economy could be boosted by £1.6 billion a year if it met World Health Organisation guidelines for air pollution.
• In 2019, the European Union passed a best-practice policy, and all 35 countries that are part of the WHO American Region/Pan American Health Organization unanimously approved a regional plan of action to eliminate industrially produced trans fats by 2025.
• While diabetes mellitus is the seventh highest global cause of death on its own, according to the World Health Organization, it significantly raises the risk of heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide.
• The energy and technology (22%) industries are currently 5G investment leaders, with health care and financial services (58%) organizations projected to emerge as the biggest investors within three years.
• Chinese diplomats recently warned Australia that its calls for the World Health Organisation to probe the origins of the novel coronavirus could see Chinese consumers lose interest in Australian products.
• As the specialty food industry hits a record year of growth with $148.7 billion in sales, we are seeing that health benefits and sustainability concerns will continue to drive more food and beverage trends in 2020.
• With a growing number of scientists calling for the World Health Organisation to examine airborne transmission of coronavirus, the technology offered by an Irish company could become an important part of the arsenal used against the virus that has brought much of the world to a standstill.
• Dozens of Beirut's health facilities are non-functional the World Health Organisation has warned as the number of coronavirus cases in Lebanon's capital surged by a third - sparking fears last week's port explosion has triggered a secondary health crisis.
• The World Health Organization has named vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten threats fronting public health in 2020.
• Last year, the global market for female-focused health products generated US$820.6M and is estimated to reach at least US$3 B by the end of 2030; Femtech posted US$592.1M in VC investment in 2019, slightly down on 2018's US$ 620.3 million.
• Over the next five years, the health care and social assistance industry is forecast to have the largest employment growth of all industries in Western Australia, with the number of disability and aged care workers needing to double to meet demand.

Last updated: 04 October 2020