Health

Having already drastically reduced mortality rates and increased life expectancy by tackling the problem of communicable diseases and instituting nationwide universal health services, the Sultanate is now shifting its efforts towards combating non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Although Brunei Darussalam’s substantial hydrocarbons exports and relatively small population have so far enabled the government to provide high-quality care to all Bruneians, the existing system is unlikely to be sustainable in the long term due to rapid increases in health care costs and the finite nature of the country’s resources. In the long term the expansion of the private sector could help to shape the future evolution of the health sector as a whole.

This chapter contains an interview with Dr Kenneth Y Y Kok, Medical Director, Brunei Cancer Centre.