From a young age, my mother’s slowly failing health has familiarised me up-close with the morbid tapestry of our medical facilities.

Air pollution caused one in seven new cases of diabetes in 2016, a US study says, which found even low levels raised the chances of developing the chronic disease.

Medicine cost eats up two-thirds of the money spent by people from their own pockets for health, pushing those with chronic diseases towards poverty, said speakers at a policy dialogue yesterday.