Revealing Progress and Gaps of Healthcare in Southeast Asia

Public services are responsible for supporting society and ensuring people’s wellbeing, particularly through healthcare. Southeast Asia has improved access to medical care over the years. However, gaps remain. A report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reveals progress and gaps in healthcare in Southeast Asia.

Government at a Glance: Southeast Asia 2025 Report

OECD released a report titled “Government at a Glance: Southeast Asia 2025” in December 2025. The report reveals results from surveys for government officials from respective Southeast Asian countries. It considers three dimensions of service delivery: accessibility, responsiveness, and quality. 

The report showcases significant development of public services, among others, in healthcare. However, this positive progress hasn’t seen equal distribution and hasn’t yet created affordable services across regions. 

Healthcare in Southeast Asia: Improvement

Access for healthcare in Southeast Asia has expanded. The report notes that healthcare accessibility—the ability to receive affordable and timely service—depends heavily on the availability of doctors. The report shows that the region saw increasing numbers of doctors, reaching an average of 1 per 1000 population. The most substantial increase was in Singapore that reached 2.6 per 1000 population. However, the number is still far below OECD average, with almost 4 doctors per 1000 people.

Meanwhile, health expenses in Southeast Asia have progressively declined. From 2012 to 2022, Indonesia (-22%) and Laos (-20%) showed major reductions of out-of-pocket spending—patients directly paying for medical care. On average, Southeast Asia has succeeded to reduce 10% of total healthcare out-of-pocket spending over the decade. 

Furthermore, the quality of care in the region is assessed from its maternal mortality rate (MMR). The decline of mortality rate shows positive trends, with a reduction of 32 deaths per 100,000 on average regionally. 

Healthcare in Southeast Asia: Gaps

Nevertheless, gaps persist in countries like Laos and Cambodia where significant improvements haven’t been seen in a decade. While there is progress, the numbers of doctors in both countries haven’t notably improved. Over 2011–2021, a stagnant rate of 0.3 doctors per 1000 people persisted in Laos. Meanwhile, Cambodia has only seen an improvement of 0.1 doctors per thousand of population. 

Additionally, MMR is still particularly high in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Laos. In 2023, MMR in those countries reached 112–140. These wide differences between countries highlight ongoing barriers in service quality.

Key Recommendations for Improved Public Services

Closing gaps in healthcare and other public services requires people-centered improvements. Governments must gather the public’s needs, stories, expectations, and response to create better experiences through improved systems. 

OECD highlights several key recommendations for better public services:

• Measure public’s experience: National or provincial level of satisfaction surveys helps identify gaps in accessibility, responsiveness, and quality of services.
• Better mechanism for feedback and complaints: National portals and hotlines gather opinions to recognize common views and issues the public faced.
• Improve transparency: Performance reporting through publishing service standards and public satisfaction result support accountability and grow public trust.

Editor: Nazalea Kusuma