Healthcare entitlements for citizens and transborder mobile peoples in Southeast Asia

The health of a population is shaped by a complex interplay of economic, political, social, cultural and biological factors that transcend national borders. This chapter considers how these factors work together within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a supra-national regional political space encompassing a population of over 600 million across ten countries. It examines regional-level economic and social policies/charters shaping contemporary national and regional healthcare discourses and practices within ASEAN. The chapter considers how a range of ASEAN member states have worked to establish universal health coverage (UHC) for their populations, and identify some of the challenges they face as healthcare access becomes increasingly multi-tiered. It provides the challenges and vulnerabilities faced by peoples rendered mobile both within and outside of their country of origin. In a national context, however, UHC often translates into citizenship-based entitlements, leaving migrant workers, refugees and asylum-seekers to fall through the cracks.