Realising the value of digital health in Asia and the Pacific is an Economist Impact report, sponsored by Roche.   The report looks at the landscape of digital health in Asia and the Pacific, the benefits it offers multiple stakeholders, the barriers and challenges to realising its full value, and how the covid-19 pandemic changed the face of digital health seemingly overnight. It presents lessons on how to frame and promote the value proposition for digital health, and also offers key policy takeaways.   The research was supported by a targeted and pragmatic literature review and in-depth interviews with experts in the field of digital health. This report would not be possible without the expert insights of those on the front lines of digital health innovation and practice. Our thanks are due to the following for their time and insights (listed alphabetically):   • Dr. Zoran Bolevich, Chief Executive of eHealth New South Wales (NSW) and Chief Information Officer of NSW Health, Australia • Dr. Ray-Jade Chen, Chair Professor of Surgery, School of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan; Consultant Surgeon, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taiwan • Dr. Trisha Greenhalgh OBE, Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom • Dr. Boonchai Kijsanayotin, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand; Research manager, Thai Health Information Standards Development Centre, Health System Research Institute; Chair, Asia eHealth Information Network; and Member, WHO Digital Health Technical Advisory Group • Prof. John CW Lim, Executive Director, Centre of Regulatory Excellence (CoRE), Duke-NUS Medical School; Chairman, Consortium for Clinical Research & Innovation Singapore (CRIS) • Dr. Keren Priyadarshini, Regional Leader for Healthcare in Asia Pacific, Microsoft • Assoc Prof. Soo-Yong Shin, Associate Professor, Department of Digital Health, SAIHST (Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences & Technology), Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea • Angela Ryan, Vice Chair, Australasian Institute of Digital Health (AIDH), Australia

The need to get better value from healthcare investment has never been more important as ageing populations and increasing numbers of people with multiple chronic conditions force governments to make limited financial resources go further.

These pressures, along with a greater focus on patient-centred care, have raised the profile of VBHC, especially in European healthcare systems. Sweden, with its highly comprehensive and egalitarian healthcare system, has been a leader in implementing VBHC from the beginning, a fact that was underscored in a 2016 global assessment of VBHC published by The Economist Intelligence Unit. 

This paper looks at the ways in which Sweden has implemented VBHC, the areas in which it has faced obstacles and the lessons that it can teach other countries and health systems looking to improve the value of their own healthcare investments.

With more older women also working, how will the rising trend of breast cancer survivorship manifest in workplace policies, practices and culture? What challenges do breast cancer survivors face when trying to reintegrate into the workforce, or to continue working during treatment? How can governments, companies and society at large play a constructive role?

This series of reports looks at the situation for breast cancer survivors in Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. It finds that while progress has been made, more needs to be done, particularly in South Korea, where public stigma around cancer remains high.