Singapore, where hospitals are witnessing an increase in overseas patients, plans to add more institutions providing medical degrees it recognises to help meet a growing need for health-care professionals, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said.

Singapore’s private and government hospitals have had an average 20% increase in overseas patients in each of the past three years, Mr Wan said.

The government now recognises medical degrees from 71 institutions in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US, and plans to expand the list to include top medical schools in Japan and India, he said.

The rising number of overseas patients will “increase staffing pressure on public hospitals”, Mr Wan said. Singapore is investing in health-care and biomedical research to boost its standing as one of Southeast Asia’s leading medical centres, drawing patients from neighbouring countries. Parkway Holdings, Singapore’s biggest operator of non-government hospitals, is Asia’s second-biggest publicly traded operator of health services.

( www.financialexpress.com)