Health Systems in China vs. Singapore: The Final Review!
- jcnoble00
- Dec 5, 2022
- 4 min read
The relationship between China and Singapore is fairly stable. One study said that 68% of Chinese citizens have a favorable opinion of Singapore. One of the most recent issues that have occurred between the two countries is that the Chinese government believed that Singapore was taking a too careless approach to COVID and that they should be a lot more strict with mask-wearing and keeping people at home. However, this has not stopped the recent rise in bilateral trade between the two countries. In fact, Singapore trades more with China than any other Asian Country. This is all to say that there is a fairly positive relationship between the two even though their systems are quite different.
One problem that is rapidly approaching Asia is the issue that their populations are getting older and older and there are not as many young people to care for them. The one-child policy in China and families being more encouraged to have sons has led to a situation where there are a lot more older people without kids and the healthcare system is going to have to deal with them. For these reasons in East Asia and Southeast Asia, healthcare spending is expected to rise a lot. Will the respective systems be able to handle this dramatic increase in patients? This is yet to be seen.
This graph allows us to see the number of doctors that each country has per 1,000 people. As you can see from the graph, the United States is number one with about 2.7 or so doctors. As far as the Asian countries depicted in the graph, Singapore is number one with about 2.3 doctors and China is number two with about 2.2. From this alone, we can see that there is no particular shortage of doctors in either of the countries and in fact, they are quite similar to one another in this regard. However, we know that the number of doctors is not the only metric of how good the healthcare system is by any means.
As you can see in this graph, in 2019, Singapore ranked second among all Asian countries with the best Healthcare. It is also interesting to note that China does not even make this list. From all the research that I have done for this project, from almost every standard Singapore has a superior system to China. The Three M system has really been perfected and not many people really are able to fall through the cracks as there are ways to prevent these people from going uncovered. This would be through the Medifund or other government programs that these people can get on. The one downside is the rise of more Integrated Shield Plans, which are a little more exclusive, as the citizens would have to pay for this more out of pocket. However, the basic plans are still excellent and cover most of what is required. One other thing about MediSave is that it is deducted from your salary and is mandatory, the people have no say in it. Some people might not like this; However, for what you are getting and the way this money can really help the whole country this seems to be a small expense to pay. For further detail of the descriptions of how everything works please read my blog post on Singapore which will be attached to this post.
Even though at this current time Singapore seems to have a better system than China, a lot of improvements have been made in China. To learn more about the specific changes, you can read my blog on China, which is also linked. As you can see in the graph above, fewer and fewer patients are unable to get care, which is really important for people in all areas of China. I think after many years of a system that was broken and wasn't able to support people, China is finally moving in the right direction, and given time the system will be much better and provide care for all of the citizens. My biggest fear is that the Chinese government stops the progress that has been made. I really hope this is not the case and that they see all the positive changes and keep moving in the right direction.
For my final review, I would give the victory to Singapore for their system which is able to cover more people and allows for everyone, regardless of income, to get care. The three M systems of Medisave, Medifund, and MediShield Life seem to work very well for the people in Singapore. As for China, massive improvements have been made and only a short time ago people had to pay almost all of the expenses and now, there are more plans and lots more options. It is exciting to see that they are rapidly moving in the right direction and are able to care for all of their people. This is really important as the healthcare system in a country impacts so many people and the opportunities that they have and it can really affect someone's quality of life and just overall well-being.
Thanks for reading this blog, and if you liked it, please read my other two blogs doing an in-depth analysis of both China and Singapore Individually.
Resources and References:
Tech Collective / What 2020 Will Bring for the Healthcare Industry in Southeast Asia
The Asean Post / Frontline Heroes: Women Healthcare Workers
Nikkei Asia / Telehealth Services Rush to Relieve Asean Hospitals' COVID Burden
World Economic Forum / The Cost of Healthcare is Rising in Asean. How Can Nations Get The Most For Their Money?
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