With populations around the world getting older and chronic disease burden increasing, demand for healthcare services continues to increase.
I expect this trend to continue for several decades, which I feel makes the healthcare sector a great place to look for buy and hold investments.
Three healthcare shares that I feel could be quality options today are listed below:
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)
This global biotherapeutics company could be one of the best buy and hold options on the ASX. This is due to the quality of its CSL Behring and Seqirus businesses, its growing plasma collection network, strong demand for immunoglobulins, and its high level of R&D investment. The latter has led to CSL developing a wide-range of lucrative drugs that generate significant sales. And with its development pipeline overflowing with promising new drugs, I am confident that CSL can continue delivering strong earnings growth for a long time to come.
ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)
Another high quality healthcare share to buy is ResMed. It is a sleep treatment-focused medical device company which I believe is well-positioned for long-term growth. This is due to increasing demand for sleep treatment products because of the proliferation of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). According to a recent company presentation, less than 20% of OSA sufferers have actually been either diagnosed or treated. As more and more of these sufferers become aware of the condition, I expect ResMed to benefit greatly due to its industry-leading products and wide distribution network.
Volpara Health Technologies Ltd (ASX: VHT)
A final healthcare share to consider is Volpara. It is healthcare technology company which has been growing at an impressive rate. For example, on Tuesday the company revealed a massive 190% increase in second quarter cash receipts to NZ$4.9 million. Volpara provides software that uses artificial intelligence imaging algorithms to assist with the early detection of breast and lung cancer. It has been a very strong performer in recent years thanks to the growing popularity of its software with radiologists across North America. I believe this strong form can continue over the long term due to the quality of the software, recent acquisitions, and its growing North American footprint.
