Malaysia's ageing population to boost demand for healthcare services

The government will be urged to expand access to healthcare services.

The increasing population of seniors in Malaysia is sighted to bring revenue-earning opportunities for pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, said a report by Fitch solutions.

Citizens aged 65 years old and above are expected to make up 15.3%, or 5.8 million people of the country’s population by the year 2030, according to the country’s Statistics Department.

The rapid rise in the pensionable population would propel the government to expand access to healthcare services, which in turn will bolster the attractiveness of the Malaysian healthcare market, Fitch noted.

The incidences of chronic conditions, in particular, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, are expected to increase amongst the elderly. The annual health expenditure due to diabetes incidents is projected to rise from $600m in 2010 to $1b by 2030, according to a study published in the Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice.

Fitch also added that the rise in healthcare expenditure would necessitate the continued enforcement of cost-containment measures. As such, generic pharmaceutical companies will be presented with commercial opportunities as medicines’ affordability are improved for the population and healthcare providers.