Health at a Glance: Asia/Pacific 2020

Chapter 1. Country and territory dashboards

The aim of this chapter is to show a set of key indicators to compare performance across countries and territories in each of the following dimensions:

• Health status

• Risk factors for health

• Quality of care

• Health care resources

For each dimension, a set of five indicators is presented in the form of country and territories dashboards. The indicators are selected based on their policy relevance, but also on data availability and interpretability. Indicators where coverage is highest are therefore prioritised.

In order to assess comparative performance across countries and territory, each country/territory is classified for every indicator based on how they compare against the income group-specific median. Therefore, countries and territories significantly above/below their respective group median will be classified as better/worse than median (▲/▼), with the remaining countries and territories classified as close to the median (⦿).

Methodology

In order to allow for cross-country comparisons of performance, countries and territories are split according to their income group (high income, upper-middle income, lower-middle and low income). The central tendency measures presented, for all indicators and income groups, are medians.

In order to classify countries and territories as “better than”, “close to”, or “worse than” the central tendency of any indicator, a measure of statistical dispersion is needed to compute the reasonable range for values close to the central tendency value, with anything above or below classified accordingly. The preferred measure is the Median Absolute Deviation (MAD), since it is a robust measure that is both more efficient and less biased than a simple standard deviation when outliers are present.

Countries and territories are classified as “better than median” if they lie above the median + 1 MAD, “worse than median” if they lie below the median – 1 MAD, and “close to the median” if they lie within ± 1 MAD from the median. Given the nature of the indicators presented, for “under age 5 mortality rate” and “smoking”, “alcohol consumption” and “children and adolescent overweight”, countries and territories are classified as “better than median” if they lie below the median - 1 MAD, “worse than median” if they lie above the median + 1 MAD, and “close to the median” if they lie within ± 1 MAD from the median.

Health status

The five indicators used to compare health status are life expectancy at birth for females (2018), life expectancy at birth for males (2018), survival to age 65 for females (2018), survival to age 65 for males (2018), and under age 5 mortality rate per 1 000 live births (2018).

Table 1.1. Dashboard on health status

▲ Better than   ⦿ Close to   ▼ Worse than group-specific central tendency
Country	LE (F) at birth		LE (M) at birth		Survival to age 65 (F)		Survival to age 65 (M)		Under age 5 mortality rate
	In years		In years		%		%		Per 1 000 live births
High income	85.6		80.9		94.4		89.4		3.2
Australia	84.9	⦿	80.7	⦿	93.6	⦿	89.5	⦿	3.7	⦿
Brunei Darussalam	77.0	▼	74.6	▼	84.4	▼	78.1	▼	11.6	▼
Hong Kong, China	87.7	▲	82.3	▲	94.8	⦿	90.1	⦿	2.6	⦿
Japan	87.3	⦿	81.3	⦿	94.5	⦿	89.2	⦿	2.5	⦿
Korea, Rep.	85.7	⦿	79.7	⦿	95.1	⦿	88.0	⦿	3.2	⦿
Macau, China	87.1	⦿	81.1	⦿	96.0	⦿	90.5	⦿
New Zealand	83.6	⦿	80.2	⦿	92.3	▼	88.7	⦿	5.7	▼
Singapore	85.4	⦿	81.0	⦿	94.2	⦿	90.1	⦿	2.8	⦿
Upper-middle income	79.1		73.4		87.6		76.6		8.6
China	79.1	⦿	74.5	⦿	89.0	⦿	83.3	▲	8.6	⦿
Fiji	69.2	▼	65.6	▼	72.9	▼	62.3	▼	25.6	▼
Malaysia	78.2	⦿	74.1	⦿	86.8	⦿	76.6	⦿	7.8	⦿
Sri Lanka	80.1	⦿	73.4	⦿	90.6	⦿	77.9	⦿	7.4	⦿
Thailand	80.7	⦿	73.2	⦿	87.6	⦿	74.4	⦿	9.1	⦿
Lower-middle and low income	72.8		67.8		78.7		68.6		29.3
Bangladesh	74.3	⦿	70.6	▲	79.6	⦿	73.8	▲	30.2	⦿
Cambodia	71.6	⦿	67.3	⦿	77.6	⦿	67.9	⦿	28.0	⦿
India	70.7	⦿	68.2	⦿	74.6	▼	68.6	⦿	36.6	⦿
Indonesia	73.7	⦿	69.4	⦿	79.7	⦿	71.5	⦿	25.0	⦿
Korea, DPR	75.5	⦿	68.4	⦿	82.7	▲	70.7	⦿	18.2	▲
Lao PDR	69.4	▼	65.8	⦿	73.8	▼	66.2	⦿	47.3	▼
Mongolia	74.0	⦿	65.6	▼	79.4	⦿	59.3	▼	16.3	▲
Myanmar	69.9	▼	63.8	▼	74.7	▼	61.6	▼	46.2	▼
Nepal	71.9	⦿	69.0	⦿	78.1	⦿	71.9	⦿	32.2	⦿
Pakistan	68.1	▼	66.2	⦿	72.9	▼	68.6	⦿	69.3	▼
Papua New Guinea	65.6	▼	63.0	▼	68.5	▼	60.4	▼	47.8	▼
Philippines	75.4	⦿	67.1	⦿	79.6	⦿	65.0	⦿	28.4	⦿
Solomon Islands	74.7	⦿	71.2	▲	80.3	⦿	74.0	▲	20.0	⦿
Viet Nam	79.4	▲	71.2	▲	86.8	▲	72.0	⦿	20.7	⦿

Risk factors

The five indicators used to compare risk factors are the age-standardised prevalence estimates for daily tobacco smoking among persons aged 15 and above (2018), recorded alcohol consumption in litres per capita among persons aged 15 and above (2016), the share of population with access to basic sanitation (latest year available), the share of population with access to basic drinking water (latest year available) and the prevalence of overweight among children and adolescent (2016).

Table 1.2. Dashboard on risk factors for health

▲ Better than   ⦿ Close to   ▼ Worse than group-specific central tendency
Country	Smoking		Alcohol consumption		Access to basic sanitation		Access to basic drinking water		Children and adolescents overweight
	% of daily smokers		Litres per capita		% population		% population		% population aged 5‑19 years
High income	14.1		6.5		100.0		100.0		26.9
Australia	12.2	⦿	9.7	▼	100.0	⦿	100.0	⦿	34.1	▼
Brunei Darussalam	11.5	⦿	0.6	▲	96.0	▼	100.0	⦿	26.8	⦿
Hong Kong, China	14.9	⦿	2.8	▲	97.0	▼	100.0	⦿
Japan	18.3	▼	6.9	⦿	100.0	⦿	99.0	▼	14.2	▲
Korea, Rep.	20.6	▼	9.1	⦿	100.0	⦿	100.0	⦿	26.9	⦿
Macau, China	25.1	▼	6.1	⦿			100.0	⦿
New Zealand	13.1	⦿	9.2	⦿	100.0	⦿	100.0	⦿	39.5	▼
Singapore	13.3	⦿	1.8	▲	100.0	⦿	100.0	⦿	22.4	⦿
Upper-middle income	16.9		2.7		96.0		94.0		26.5
China	21.5	▼	5.7	▼	85.0	▼	93.0	⦿	28.5	⦿
Fiji	16.4	⦿	2.2	⦿	95.0	⦿	94.0	⦿	34.4	▼
Malaysia	17.6	⦿	0.6	▲	100.0	▲	97.0	⦿	26.5	⦿
Sri Lanka	10.2	▲	2.7	⦿	96.0	⦿	89.0	▼	12.9	▲
Thailand	16.9	⦿	6.6	▼	99.0	⦿	100.0	▲	22.1	⦿
Lower-middle and low income	18.7		3.1		61.0		89.0		12.2
Bangladesh	18.9	⦿			48.0	⦿	97.0	⦿	9.0	⦿
Cambodia	15.3	⦿	3.5	⦿	59.0	⦿	79.0	▼	11.3	⦿
India	10	▲	3.0	⦿	60.0	⦿	93.0	⦿	6.8	▲
Indonesia	27.6	▼	0.3	▲	73.0	⦿	89.0	⦿	15.4	⦿
Korea, DPR	13	▲	3.4	⦿	83.0	▲	95.0	⦿	22.9	▼
Lao PDR	23.7	▼	6.8	▼	74.0	⦿	82.0	⦿	13.6	⦿
Mongolia	21.4	⦿	5.7	▼	58.0	⦿	83.0	⦿	17.8	▼
Myanmar	15.3	⦿	1.6	⦿	64.0	⦿	82.0	⦿	11.6	⦿
Nepal	14.4	⦿	0.6	▲	62.0	⦿	89.0	⦿	7.5	⦿
Pakistan	15.7	⦿			60.0	⦿	91.0	⦿	9.7	⦿
Papua New Guinea	31.1	▼	0.7	▲	13.0	▼	41.0	▼	31.7	▼
Philippines	18.7	⦿	4.6	⦿	77.0	▲	94.0	⦿	12.8	⦿
Solomon Islands	29.7	▼	1.0	⦿	34.0	▼	68.0	▼	23.1	▼
Viet Nam	18.7	⦿	3.1	⦿	84.0	▲	95.0	⦿	9.7	⦿

Quality of care

The five indicators used to compare quality of care are the five‑year net survival rate for breast cancer, lung cancer and stomach cancer among persons aged 15 and above (2010‑14), and vaccination rates for diphtheria tetanus toxoid and pertussis (DTP3) and measles (MCV) among children aged around 1 (2019). This dashboard does not split countries and territories across income groups due to data coverage limitations for the five‑year net survival rates.

Table 1.3. Dashboard on quality of care

▲ Better than   ⦿ Close to   ▼ Worse than central tendency
Country	Breast cancer		Lung cancer		Stomach cancer		Vaccination for DTP3		Vaccination for measles
	Five-year net survival rate		Five-year net survival rate		Five-year net survival rate		Coverage (%), children aged around 1		Coverage (%), children aged around 1
Median	83.2		15.5		30.3		95.0		95.0
Australia	89.5	⦿	19.4	⦿	31.8	⦿	95.0	⦿	95.0	⦿
Bangladesh							98.0	⦿	97.0	⦿
Brunei Darussalam							99.0	⦿	97.0	⦿
Cambodia							92.0	⦿	84.0	▼
China	83.2	⦿	19.8	⦿	35.9	⦿	99.0	⦿	99.0	⦿
Fiji							99.0	⦿	96.0	⦿
Hong Kong, China	83.3	⦿					91.0	⦿	95.0	⦿
India	66.1	▼	3.7	▼	8.9	▼	85.0	▼	88.0	⦿
Indonesia							98.0	⦿	96.0	⦿
Japan	89.4	⦿	32.9	▲	60.3	▲	97.0	⦿	98.0	⦿
Korea, DPR							98.0	⦿	98.0	⦿
Korea, Rep.	86.6	⦿	25.1	▲	68.9	▲	68.0	▼	69.0	▼
Lao PDR							98.0	⦿	97.0	⦿
Macau, China							98.0	⦿	98.0	⦿
Malaysia	65.0	▼	10.1	⦿	30.0	⦿	90.0	⦿	84.0	▼
Mongolia	76.1	⦿					93.0	⦿	92.0	⦿
Myanmar							92.0	⦿	92.0	⦿
Nepal							75.0	▼	75.0	▼
New Zealand	87.6	⦿	15.3	⦿	25.7	⦿	35.0	▼	37.0	▼
Pakistan							65.0	▼	67.0	▼
Papua New Guinea							96.0	⦿	95.0	⦿
Philippines							94.0	⦿	81.0	▼
Singapore	80.3	⦿	15.5	⦿	30.3	⦿	99.0	⦿	99.0	⦿
Solomon Islands							97.0	⦿	75.0	▼
Sri Lanka							89.0	⦿	95.0	⦿
Thailand	68.7	▼	8.6	▼	12.5	▼	95.0	⦿	95.0	⦿
Viet Nam							98.0	⦿	97.0	⦿

Health care resources

The five indicators used to compare health care resources are health expenditure per capita in USD international (2017), the share of out-of-pocket (OOP) spending in total current health spending (2017), the number of doctors per 1 000 population (latest year available), the number of nurses per 1 000 population (latest year available), and the number of hospital beds per 1 000 population (latest year available). Given the nature of the indicators presented, whereas they cannot be classified as better or worse performance, the arrows simply imply that the values are significantly higher or lower than the median.

Table 1.4. Dashboard on health care resources

▲ Higher than   ⦿ Close to   ▼ Lower than central tendency
Country	Health spending		OOP spending		Doctors per 1 000 population		Nurses per 1 000 population		Hospital beds per 1 000 population
	USD international per capita		Share of health spending		Number		Number		Number
High income	4018.8		15.9		2.4		7.4		3.4
Australia	4816.2	▲	18.2	⦿	3.7	▲	11.7	▲	3.8	⦿
Brunei Darussalam	1875	▼	5.2	▼	1.6	▼	5.9	⦿	2.9	⦿
Hong Kong, China					2.0	⦿	7.6	⦿	4.1	⦿
Japan	4563.5	⦿	12.8	⦿	2.4	⦿	12.2	▲	13.1	▲
Korea, Rep.	2980.2	▼	33.7	▲	2.4	⦿	7.3	⦿	12.3	▲
Macau, China					2.6	⦿	3.7	▼	2.5	⦿
New Zealand	3767.5	⦿	13.6	⦿	3.6	▲	11.9	▲	2.6	⦿
Singapore	4270	⦿	32.1	▲	2.3	⦿	6.2	⦿	2.0	⦿
Upper-middle income	670.9		36.1		1.0		2.8		2.1
China	841.1	⦿	36.1	⦿	2.0	▲	2.7	⦿	5.9	▲
Fiji	322.8	▼	15.6	▼	0.9	⦿	3.4	▲	2.0	⦿
Malaysia	1139	▲	37.9	⦿	1.5	▲	3.5	▲	1.3	⦿
Sri Lanka	503.6	⦿	49.8	▲	1.0	⦿	1.7	▼	3.9	▲
Thailand	670.9	⦿	11.1	▼	0.8	⦿	2.8	⦿	2.1	⦿
Lower-middle and low income	238.2		53.0		0.6		1.3		1.0
Bangladesh	94.3	▼	73.9	▲	0.6	⦿	0.4	⦿	0.8	⦿
Cambodia	238.2	⦿	60.4	⦿	0.2	⦿	0.7	⦿	0.9	⦿
India	253.3	⦿	62.4	⦿	0.9	⦿	1.7	⦿	0.7	⦿
Indonesia	367.9	▲	34.1	▼	0.4	⦿	1.5	⦿	1.0	⦿
Korea, DPR					3.7	▲	4.1	▲	14.3	▲
Lao PDR	177.9	⦿	46.2	⦿	0.4	⦿	1.0	⦿	1.5	⦿
Mongolia	518.1	▲	32.2	▼	2.9	▲	3.9	▲	8.0	▲
Myanmar	287.6	⦿	76.2	▲	0.7	⦿	0.7	⦿	1.0	⦿
Nepal	150.1	⦿	57.8	⦿	0.7	⦿	3.1	▲	1.2	⦿
Pakistan	160.6	⦿	60.2	⦿	1.0	⦿	0.5	⦿	0.6	⦿
Papua New Guinea	103.9	▼	9.0	▼	0.1	⦿	0.4	⦿
Philippines	371.7	▲	53.0	⦿	0.6	⦿	4.9	▲	1.0	⦿
Solomon Islands	115.2	▼	5.4	▼	0.2	⦿	2.2	⦿	1.4	⦿
Viet Nam	375.6	▲	45.3	⦿	0.8	⦿	1.1	⦿	2.6	⦿