PHILIPS HEALTHCARE CEO URGES ASEAN LEADERS TO DOUBLE EFFORTS TO SOLVE GROWING HEALTHCARE CHALLENGES

“As Stakeholders In The Healthcare Industry, We Need To Align And Act” – Steve Rusckowski-Collaboration and patient-centric approach key to minimizing disease, improving infrastructure and addressing deficit of qualified healthcare professionals Hanoi, Vietnam – Addressing the ongoing BusinessWeek “2nd ASEAN symposium on Access to Healthcare” in Hanoi, Steve Rusckowski, Executive Vice President and CEO of Philips Healthcare, today hailed the need for greater collaboration and investment to find solutions to the growing healthcare challenges facing the region. Addressing key representatives from business, government, healthcare and insurance organizations, Mr. Rusckowski pointed out how global issues such as aging populations and increased prevalence of chronic diseases, coupled with local issues, such as lack of infrastructure and a deficit in well-trained healthcare professionals, are depriving ASEAN populations from receiving access to quality, affordable healthcare. “As stakeholders in the healthcare industry, we need to align and act”, urged Mr Rusckowski. “In the 21st century, universal quality healthcare has to be a basic human right. We cannot accept that millions of people die every year in South East Asia simply because they don’t have access to available healthcare. Yes, we face tough challenges, but it is our collective responsibility – the healthcare providers, patients, public authorities, insurers and of course healthcare companies like Philips – to ensure that we dramatically improve healthcare standards and find financially sustainable solutions to bring hope to millions and millions of people in despair.” With global healthcare spending expected to contribute to 15 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2015, government and industry leaders must take action now, according to Mr Rusckowski. While nearly all ASEAN countries have world-class care facilities, these are far beyond the reach of the vast majority of the population. “Economic progress in several countries globally hasn’t eased the strain on the generally overburdened, underfunded healthcare system,” explained Mr Rusckowski. “Millions of people still suffer from diseases or ailments that simply should not exist anywhere on this planet. In the past few years, disease such as dengue fever, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis and malaria have resurfaced. At the same time, the prevalence of chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes, are rising rapidly.” In the ASEAN region in particular, the efficient delivery of decent healthcare is often hampered by a lack of infrastructure, especially in rural areas. Combined with other factors such as unclean water, unreliable electricity supply, an absence of Internet connections or sufficient bandwidth, and outdated telecom networks, the ability to get the right information to the right people quickly, through various levels of regional and local authorities is impossible. Another area of challenge is the retention of healthcare professionals, who are often pulled by other regions that offer higher salaries. For example, nurses from Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as doctors from leading hospitals around the region are enticed to Europe and the Middle East for better pay and prospects. Training is also a key area that requires attention. Up to 50 percent of technology imported from developed countries goes unused in developing economies simply because professionals lack adequate training, explained Mr Rusckowksi. “We must enable doctors and nurses to do what they want to do: give patients their best care. We must work together to lower their workloads and improve their work conditions and job satisfaction. This will not only help to increase productivity, but also to build a sustainable patient-centered healthcare system. At Philips, our clear vision for a ‘patients-first’ approach means we constantly strive to search for and bring the best possible healthcare technologies to meet patients’ needs. We aim to provide integrated solutions across the entire cycle of care that includes prevention, early diagnostics and remote patient management – we need financially sustainable solutions for the patients.” Mr Rusckowski illustrated this point, highlighting that hospitalization poses a tremendous financial burden to the healthcare systems of the future. As such, industry leaders need to focus much more on prevention, screening and early diagnosis. He also addressed the issue of health insurance coverage, which is either not available or not affordable for the majority of the population. Mr Rusckowski referenced how collaborative initiatives like the collective micro-financing of healthcare in countries like the Philippines are helping to address this issue. “We must align all incentives in our healthcare systems,” said Mr Rusckowski. “We must ensure that the financial and professional interests of all players in the healthcare sector are in line with our overall goal: to provide quality healthcare to people in a financially sustainable way.” Examples of how Philips has applied an innovative approach to develop solutions and drive collaboration among ASEAN constituents from the government, healthcare, and insurance sectors include: - The Vamed preferred partnership by which Philips is supporting the modernization of Vietnamese hospitals by supplying equipment to hospitals across the country, under the Ministry of Defense and to the Vietnam Heart Institute. - The Easy Web (E-Web) Healthcare System developed in cooperation with the Philippines Heart Center, Manila, to provide rural populations in the Philippines with access to quality healthcare through a remote patient management solution that addresses some of the most critical stages of the healthcare cycle: early detection and aftercare. - Philips has supplied the first Ambient Experience MR Suite to the Malaysian Subang Jaya Medical Centre, the first hospital in the ASEAN region to employ this technology. The Philips Ambient Experience Suite offers patients a calm, reassuring atmosphere so that patients feel more comfortable, minimizing delays due to patient fears and concerns and increasing efficiencies in patient care. - Philips’ collaboration with the National Health Centre in Singapore on cardiac laboratory imaging is helping to advance clinical validation of new innovative technologies and training on equipment for cardiologists from around the region. Through promoting dialogue amongst public and private sector leaders, the BusinessWeek “ASEAN symposium on Access to Healthcare” aims to identify potential solutions to removing barriers to universal quality healthcare. The first symposium was held in Kuala Lumpur in September 2007.

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