These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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S'pore private doctors question 'highly exclusive' IP insurer panels which exclude many specialists
Private sector doctors here have openly expressed their unhappiness with Integrated Shield Plan (IP) insurers for excluding many private specialists from their panel of doctors for policyholders. They say the panels are "highly exclusive", with private specialists accounting for only 21 per cent of all doctors on the panels of many IP insurers. They also say the process of choosing doctors for inclusion as preferred providers in the panels is unclear, and note that several IP insurers reimburse doctors at rates that are "clustered around the lower limit only". These are key points raised in a position statement on "troubled" IPs by the Singapore Medical Association, which represents most doctors here, that The Straits Times has obtained. The rift between private sector doctors and IP insurers has intensified in recent months, placing how recent policy changes have affected policyholders in the spotlight. IPs offer benefits such as coverage for better-class wards in public hospitals and private hospital stays. Currently, all IP providers have their own panel of preferred doctors that policyholders are encouraged to pick from. Having such panels is meant to help the insurers manage escalating costs, as they want to ensure doctors will not overcharge. The panels were among measures recommended by the Health Insurance Task Force in 2016 to help address the overcharging, over-servicing and over-consumption of healthcare services. Many doctors are questioning why they are excluded from the panels when they have a good track record and charge fees that are within the fee benchmarks given by the Ministry of Health (MOH). Some have been rejected from joining the panels and others have lost patients with whom they have built up a rapport after these patients switched to panel doctors to avoid unnecessary out-of-pocket expenses, which some could not afford, said SMA president Tan Yia Swam. In 2018, MOH phased out new riders or add-on insurance plans that cover the entire medical bill. It meant that from April 2019, the riders sold required policyholders to co-pay at least 5 per cent of their hospital bills. The full riders sold in the year before this will transition to these co-payment riders in April this year. – The Straits Times
Severing of ties with Bersatu to boost Zahid's standing, says analyst
The severing of ties with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) is a measure to boost Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's standing before his party members, say analysts. Political analyst Dr Ainul Adzellie Hasnul said it was a move to illustrate Zahid's attentiveness to the grouses of the grassroots. "Zahid wants to show that he listens to the grassroots because he is still interested in holding on to the position of Umno president." However, he pointed out that the decision would cause further rift in the party's top leadership, citing leaders like Tan Sri Annuar Musa, who currently holds a cabinet position and is in favour of the Umno-Bersatu nexus. "Zahid is seen as a leader with a flip-flop stance in making decisions, unlike (deputy president Datuk Seri) Mohamad Hassan who is seen as firm in his stance. "But a majority in Umno want to sever ties with Bersatu. That is certain." Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Geostrategist Associate Prof Dr Azmi Hassan said the stance reflected the voice of the majority of the members who had been clamouring for the party to reject DAP, PKR and Bersatu for any pre-general election cooperation. "However, if we read the message carefully, Umno, in reiterating its stance, is open to the possibility (of such discussions) after the 15th General Election (GE15). "The grassroots have to keep an open mind as it is difficult for them (Barisan Nasional) alone to form a government with a simple majority (in Parliament). "After the general election, everything will be on the table, including horse-trading in this particular case. The grassroots must be prepared for this," said Azmi. Ainul also pointed out Umno's reiteration that it remained "a force to be reckoned with" and its dissatisfaction in playing second fiddle to Bersatu. "He (Zahid) also mentioned a political reset after GE15. In a way, Umno still wants the support of Pas to strengthen Muafakat Nasional. "He said BN has previously agreed that Perikatan Nasional (PN) be the government but with the condition that the general election was held (in the first quarter of this year). It did not materialise. "(Based on the circumstances), Umno is taking a gamble contesting alone in GE15 under BN's flag. "In addition, Undi18, if implemented for GE15, will give a different scenario to the country's political landscape." – New Straits Times
Thousands flee to Thailand after Myanmar army's air strikes on villages
About 3,000 villagers from Myanmar's south eastern Karen state fled to Thailand on Sunday following air attacks by the army on an area held by an ethnic armed group, an activist group and local media said. Myanmar’s military launched air strikes on five areas in Mutraw district, near the border, including a displacement camp, the Karen Women’s Organization said. "At the moment, villagers are hiding in the jungle as more than 3,000 crossed to Thailand to take refuge," a statement from the group said. Thai PBS reported about 3,000 had reached Mae Hong Son. Thai authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment. At least two soldiers from the Karen National Union were killed, said David Eubank, founder of the Free Burma Rangers, a relief organisation. "We haven’t had air strikes there for over 20 years," Eubank said. "Second, these were at night, so the capability of the Burma military has increased with the help of Russia and China and other nations, and that is deadly." Myanmar army fighter jets launched air strikes on Saturday on a village near the Thai border in territory controlled by an armed ethnic group, the group said, as fears grow of civil war following last month's military coup. The KNU, the armed ethnic group that controls the south eastern region, said fighter jets attacked Day Pu No in Papun district, an area held by its Brigade 5 forces, at around 8pm, forcing villagers to flee. "They bombed the area... The villagers from that area said two dead and two injured," a spokesperson for civil society group Karen Peace Support Network said, adding that communication was difficult in the remote region and there could be more casualties. A spokesman for the junta did not answer phone calls seeking comment. The reported air assault is the most significant attack for years in the region. The KNU had signed a ceasefire agreement in 2015 but tensions surged after the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government on Feb 1. – Bangkok Post
‘Sustainable solutions’ needed to break lockdown cycle – doctors
After seven months, hospitals are again overrun with COVID-19 patients and the situation will likely be seen again without “systemic changes” in the government’s pandemic response, according to a group of doctors. The Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC) put forward six “sustainable solutions” to the health crisis shortly after Malacañang announced on Saturday that Metro Manila and four surrounding provinces would revert to enhanced community quarantine this week. “The lockdown is an important but a mere temporary measure to stop the movement of the people and stop the transmission of the virus so that our hospitals will not be overrun,” said Dr Pauline Convocar, president of the Philippine College of Emergency Medicine and an active member of HPAAC, during an online press conference on Saturday night. Convocar said hospitals in Metro Manila reached “critical condition” on Friday and had to turn away patients. “Our hearts break whenever there are patients who die in the ER (emergency room) because there are no available beds in the wards or the ICU (intensive care unit),” said Convocar, who was on duty on Saturday when she read HPAAC’s position paper. During the first “timeout” called by health workers last August, when hospitals in Metro Manila hit capacity due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, HPAAC also asked for “comprehensive reforms” to the pandemic response. “Although some reforms have been made, there are still a lot of changes needed so that cases will not surge the moment we reopen the economy. If we do not do these, we will keep going back to this situation,” Convocar said.
HPAAC asked to:
• Expand the One Hospital Command Center into a One COVID-19 Referral Network System;
• Connect all COVID-19 data from testing, contact tracing, isolation, quarantine and treatment through a central data repository warehouse for an integrated response;
• Apply the four principal health measures of adequate ventilation, physical distancing, proper use of mask and face shield and limited interaction in public transportation, workplaces and public places including schools;
• Enforce the vaccination prioritization plan and penalize those who will jump the line;
• Ensure enough public transportation and safe bike lanes for health workers and essential workers during the lockdown, and
• Provide adequate aid for vulnerable groups whose livelihood are affected by the lockdown. HPAAC asked President Rodrigo Duterte to order all local governments and private establishments to submit the data from their contact tracing app to a centralized data repository.
“There is no central body with the data from the contact tracing apps so we do not know the movement of the virus. We do not know who needs testing, who needs quarantine, who needs hospital referral,” Convocar said. Dr Aileen Espina, a member of HPAAC, said having a single contact tracing app for the country was no longer possible. “The important thing we can do now is unify them into an integrated system,” she said. “If we complete this, we are future proofing our COVID response so this will not happen again,” Espina said. – INQUIRER.net
Mekong Delta continues to develop transport infrastructure
The Mekong Delta is working with the Ministry of Transport to improve the local transport infrastructure and thus trade flows, the Cần Thơ branch of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said. The Trung Lương - Mỹ Thuận Expressway, for example, is expected to significantly speed up product delivery once it opens for traffic this year. The Ministry of Transport plans to build another expressway between Cần Thơ City and Cà Mau Province. In the last five years, highways and bridges have been upgraded as have navigation channels in the Hậu river, while the Chợ Gạo Canal in Tiền Giang Province has been dredged. Lam said: “Poor transport infrastructure is a major obstacle for the Mekong Delta. Implementation of key projects by the Government is still slow.” The Government has approved an allocation of US$2.5 billion for infrastructure development over the next five years. Annually, the delta exports 17-18 million tonnes of goods, but 70 per cent has to be shipped from major ports in HCM City Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu Province, which increases transportation costs by 10-40 per cent. “It costs VNĐ5 million ($216.6) to transport 10 tonnes of catfish from our company in Cần Thơ City to HCM City. If we could use Cái Cui seaport in Cần Thơ city instead, it will cost only VNĐ1.5 million ($65),” Trần Văn Quang, chairman of Southern Fishery Industries Co Ltd, said. Cái Cui Port was built to handle vessels of 20,000 tonnes, but now only those of up to 7,000 tonnes can enter it due to the difficult access through small canals. Investment in transport infrastructure would help the delta cut logistics costs. An official from the Cà Mau Province transport department called for prioritising investment in inland waterways that are connected with roads to improve transportation throughout the delta and exploit the waterway system linking HCM City with other provinces and cities. Next month the ministry will seek approval from the Government to build the Trần Đề deep-water port in Sóc Trăng Province capable of receiving vessels of up to 100,000 tonnes. The port, not to be funded by public funds, is expected to achieve a throughput capacity of 50-55 million tonnes by 2030. – Viet Nam News
True friend indeed: Malaysia donates C-19 medical supplies to Cambodia
The Government of Malaysia has brought COVID-19 medical supplies to Cambodia to help in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 which were transported by a Royal Malaysian Air Force C130 transport plane that landed at the Phnom Penh International Airport on Friday morning. The aircraft was loaded with medical equipment worth about $100,000 that can be used to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease. These were warmly welcomed by the Cambodian government represented by Lieutenant General Hun Manith. The COVID-19 related medical items that were brought to Cambodia include PPEs, test kits, surgical gloves, rubber gloves, face masks, face shields and a $50,000 donation to aid in the fight against the spread of coronavirus disease. During the handover ceremony, Rostam Affendi, together with the other delegates handed over to Lt Gen Manith a personal letter from the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin to Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen. Rostam Affendi shared that the Malaysian Prime Minister hopes to come and visit Cambodia in the near future which is an ASEAN norm for a sitting Prime Minister to visit ASEAN counterparts after assuming office. Since he assumed office in Malaysia as Prime Minister in 2020, he only had visited Indonesia so far and is scheduled to visit Brunei next week. “Our Prime Minister hopes that he can visit Cambodia soon,” Rostam Affendi said. Lt Gen Manith expressed gratitude while receiving the donated items by the Malaysian government during the handover ceremony conducted. The two parties – from the Cambodian side headed by Lt Gen Manith and the delegates from Malaysia also exchanged words and gifts as a sign of camaraderie. Rostam Affendi later told Khmer Times that this is the first time that they have sent COVID-19 related assistance to Cambodia in the middle of the pandemic. However, it is only a first step in strengthening the bond between the two countries, according to him. “This act is a symbol of a relationship between government to government, people to people, agencies to agencies and department to department,” he said. Rostam Affendi added: “In times of need, we need to help each other.” Malaysia has been following the fight of the Cambodian health authorities to stop the spread of the coronavirus especially now that the February 20 Community Incident is a major disaster in the COVID-19 history of Cambodia. – Khmer Times
Thousands of Karen villagers flee as military continues airstrikes
More than 3,000 villagers from Karen state’s Mutraw (Hpapun) district fled their homes on Sunday following a series of airstrikes by the Myanmar military on territory controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU), according to local sources. “Some fled to Thailand, some into the forest. They heard rumours that more fighter jets would come in the evening,” said a villager who lives near the Ei Tu Hta camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), located on the Thai-Myanmar border. There are more than 2,400 IDPs in the Ei Tu Hta camp, while another 5,000 live along the banks of the Salween river, which separates Myanmar and Thailand. The villagers fled after the junta’s armed forces launched airstrikes near Kho Kay and other villages in the area at around 3pm on Sunday. Sources said no casualties were reported in Kho Kay, but added that the situation in other villages was unclear because internet and telephone services were cut off at the time of the raid. The airstrike on Sunday followed two the day before that left a number of people dead and several others injured, according to local media reports. The attacks came after troops from the KNU’s Brigade 5 overran the Myanmar military’s Thee Mu Hta base on Saturday morning, capturing at least eight soldiers. The military launched two airstrikes later in the day – one at 8pm and another at 11:30pm, a KNU official said. DVB, a local news outlet, reported that three villagers were killed while seven were heavily injured in the attacks on Saturday. On the same day, Myanmar’s military junta killed at least 114 civilians in towns and cities around the country in response to massive popular resistance to its February 1 coup. March 27, which was commemorated by the regime as Armed Forces Day, was the deadliest day so far of its all-out offensive against Myanmar’s civilian population. – Myanmar NOW
Jokowi condemns Makassar church bombing
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) condemned the suicide bombing in front of Cathedral Church in Makassar, South Sulawesi on Sunday. "In regard to the terror act at the entrance gate of Makassar Cathedral Church today, I strongly condemn the terror act," Jokowi said at the Bogor Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java on Sunday. A bomb exploded at 10.30 a.m. local time at the entrance gate of Makassar Cathedral Church, allegedly killing two suicide bombers and injuring 14 people. The explosion occurred when churchgoers were just finished Sunday Palm services. "I have ordered the Indonesian Police Chief to investigate thoroughly the (terrorist) networks and uncover it to its root," Jokowi stressed. The President said, terrorism is a crime against humanity and has no relations to any religious teaching. "All religions are against terrorism whatever the arguments. All state apparatus will not let this terror acts happen," he noted. Jokowi has called on people to remain calm because the state guarantees people's safety to perform worship without fear. Fourteen people were injured due to a suicide bomb attack outside Cathedral Church in Makassar, South Sulawesi on Sunday morning, police said. The Indonesian Police spokesman Insp. Gen Pol Argo Yuwono said three of the injured are being treated at Stella Maris Hospital, seven at Akademis Hospital, and four at Pelamonia Hospital. Some body parts were also found along with damaged motorcycle in the bomb attack scene. It is believed the body parts belonged to two suspected suicide bomb attackers. Shortly before the explosion, two people on a motorcycle tried to enter the church compound and were stopped by church security personnel. – AntaraNews.Com