In ASEAN, the number of health workers relative to the size of the population is variable across countries. The three richest countries, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei have the highest number of physicians relative to the population, while Philippines has the the highest number both gross number and density
The relatively high density of human resources in the Philippines is attritubuted to the large production output of health workers. Majority of which are nurses. Figure 8 demonstrate the high level of production of health workers compared to other countries in ASEAN.
Philippines experienced an upsurge in enrolment and graduation rates as demand for nurses overseas was fo
perceived to be high. The sluggish domestic economy coupled with high unemployment rate during those period pushed many college entrants to pursue nursing education for overseas employment and immgration. However, as barriers for employment were imposed in some countries like the United States,
recruitment became relativet to production. C Currently, the enrolment and graduation rate for nursing
education is beginning to slow down, but the supply is still high compared to other A ASEAN countries.
With regarrd to salary of health professionals, there is wide-variation across countries. Figure 9 shows the average monthly salary of health workers by selected ASEAN and Japan. It can be noted that health in low and middle income countriiies like Myanmar and Philippines has relatively low salary compared to richer countries like Thailand and Singapore even after adjusting the estimates with standard of living.