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Affordable travel costs and technological advances in medical procedures have enabled an increased number of patients visiting medical tourist destinations. Distances are not a barrier to treatment anymore. Moreover, medical studies also mention that travelling in itself can be part of the patient's treatment affecting positively on their condition. This study aims at examining the travel motivations and factors of female breast cancer patients and survivors by applying Iso-Ahola's motivation theory. The theory sorted travel motivations in four categories: personal escaping, interpersonal escaping, personal seeking, and interpersonal seeking. Descriptive analysis of the data obtained from the survey showed that patients travel to create share experiences their families, friends, and new people. Travelling also gives them a positive attitude as makes them feel good about themselves and gives them a sense of hope. Travelling is not about avoiding social conflict within their families or communities nor treating themselves alone to not be a burden to their families.

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) presents a great challenge to developing countries with limited access to public health measures in grassroots communities. The World Health Organization lauded the Vietnamese government for its proactive and steady investment in health facilities that mitigate the risk of the infectious disease in Vietnam. This short communication presents cases that could benchmark public health policies in developing countries.

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This commentary deliberates on the role and actions of the Philippine Government over the possible threat to the stability of the Southeast Asian region potentially brought about by long-running territorial disputes between ASEAN member states and China, among others. The ASEAN principle of non-interference is being questioned for being a hindrance to the resolution of these disputes. In addition, ground accounts from citizens of Southeast Asian countries present dissatisfaction over relations of their governments with China, whereby joint ventures and partnerships in development projects with the latter are continuously criticized, with several South Asian and Pacific Island nations having already fallen into the so-called "Chinese debt-trap". Filipinos have raised the argument for these disputes to be collectively resolved under the United Nations and ASEAN dispute settlement mechanisms as China seems to have neither complied, nor respected the decision made by the Permanent Court of Arbitration over the West Philippine Sea claims in July 2016, which favoured the Philippines.