|
Health News
Articles
Medishield for special needs children
National Registry Of Diseases Bill passed
MediShield coverage for newborns and youths in Singapore
New 550-bed Khoo Teck Puat Hospital
Two in three Primary Six students have myopia
New 550-bed Khoo Teck Puat Hospital
One Singaporean, one electronic medical record (EMR)
Gearing up Singapore for its 2020 healthcare needs
Survey on polyclinics in Singapore
Is
Class B2/C Hospitalisation Affordable?
Statistics
on hospital bills - update
Waiting times at Public Sector Emergency Departments
159 Foreign Medical Schools recognised in Singapore
AIDS
-
More clinics to offer anonymous HIV testing
-
HIV cases on the
rise in 2007
-
Rapid HIV testing now available in medical clinics
-
Health Ministry forms national committee to combat HIV/AIDS
-
More than 40 Singaporeans aged 19 and below HIV-positive
-
The Challenge Posed by HIV/ AIDS to Singapore Businesses
-
Impact of HIV epidemic on men, women & children in
Singapore
-
198 Singaporeans infected with HIV in first 10 months of 2005
-
Five HIV-positive blood donors prosecuted
-
Rising number of HIV positive young people
-
Singapore facing an alarming AIDS epidemic
- Update
on HIV infection in 2003
- New
cases of HIV infection reported in first half 2004
- AIDS/HIV
in Singapore -
Update
on HIV/AIDS situation in Singapore in 2000
-
Protect yourself from AIDS
Enhancing
regulatory control of Chinese Proprietary Medicines (CPM)
Public
Forum on 14 Apr 2002: Gum Disease And You
Primary Six students say goodbye to BCG vaccination
Coping
with chicken pox after 40 Part 1
Coping
with chicken pox after 40 Part 2
News
2008
|
Proposed amendments to the Human Organ Transplant Act |
|
The Ministry of Health (MOH) is proposing
three amendments to the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA). They are: |
|
(a) Lift the upper age
limit for cadaveric organ donation; |
|
(b) Allow donor-recipient
paired matching for exchanges of organs; and |
|
(c) Compensate living
donors according to international ethical practices. |
|
More..... |
|
|
MOH replies to questions in Parliament on abortion |
|
The Termination of Pregnancy Act was enacted
in 1974, to provide for the safe termination of
unwanted pregnancies by trained persons in
appropriately equipped facilities. |
|
It is to safeguard the health and well-being
of the woman who has, for various reasons, decided to
terminate her pregnancy. This is intended to ensure
that all children born in Singapore are wanted
children, who will be properly cared for, and will
have opportunities to develop to their full
potential... |
|
More..... |
|
|
More clinics to offer anonymous HIV testing |
|
The Ministry of Health will increase the
number of anonymous HIV test sites in Singapore from the current three -
Anteh Dispensary, Cambridge Clinic, and the Action for AIDS Anonymous
HIV Testing and Counseling Clinic - to seven, with
effect from 1 November 2008... |
|
More..... |
|
|
MOH to recognise more foreign dental degrees |
|
From 1 January 2008, all dental schools
accredited by the American Dental Association and the Canadian Dental
Association will be added to the Schedule of the Dental Registration
Act. |
|
The addition of 48 American dental schools
and 7 Canadian dental schools will increase the number of recognised
foreign dental schools in the Schedule from the current 34 to 89. The
list of new and current dental schools can be found in Annex A... |
|
More..... |
|
2007
|
Medishield for special needs children |
|
Persons with congenital illnesses can join
MediShield to obtain coverage for medical treatment that is not related
to their congenital condition... |
|
As for children attending special
schools or with special needs, the basis of coverage is the same as
the basis for other children, that is, they should be healthy at the
point of entry and have no pre-existing illnesses... |
|
More..... |
|
|
PrimaDeli allowed to resume factory operations |
|
The outbreak of Salmonellosis linked to the
Prima Deli factory has ceased. There have been no new cases with
reported onset of illness following the factory closure on 4 Dec 07... |
|
AVA will allow the company to resume its
factory operations in two stages under supervision. |
|
With immediate effect, Prima Deli will
be allowed to produce food products that undergo high heat treatment
such as baked products and frozen dough to be baked in the outlets.
If there is no operational hygiene deficiency, full factory
operation may be resumed to produce the other products containing
ingredients not subjected to heat treatment such as cakes with
toppings... |
|
More..... |
|
|
No reported cases of medical complications related to
body art tattoo |
|
Tattooing procedures carry the risk of
transmitting infectious diseases, like HIV, hepatitis B and C. However,
if sterilised or disposable needles are used and proper infection
control measures are followed, the risk of infection is very small... |
|
In the past 30 years, there have been no
reports of infectious disease transmission or serious complications from
a body tattooing procedure in Singapore. There is no compelling need to
regulate the industry... |
|
More..... |
|
|
Reduced hospital subsidies for non-citizens |
|
From January 1, 2008, non-PR foreigners will
not receive any healthcare subsidy. PRs will continue to be subsidised
for hospital services, but at 5 percentage points less than citizens. |
|
From July 1, 2008, another 5
percentage-point reduction will be applied... |
|
More..... |
|
|
Electronic Medical Records Exchange extended to
community hospitals |
|
By the first quarter of 2008, over 4000
patients yearly at the community hospitals will be able to enjoy better
patient care, improved drug safety, fewer repeat tests and hence lower
costs with the extension of the Electronic Medical Records Exchange (EMRX)... |
|
The extension marks the first step in the
Ministry of Health's plans to extend the EMRX beyond the public
sector... |
|
More..... |
|
|
MOH advise public to discard chocolate cakes from
Prima Deli |
|
MOH and theAgri-Food & Veterinary Authority
(AVA) conducted joint inspections of Prima Food Pte Ltd which produces
the chocolate cakes for all Prima Deli retail outlets. |
|
Food and environmental samples were taken
for laboratory analysis. Preliminary results on 03 December 2007 for the
food samples are suggestive of Salmonella as the likely causative agent... |
|
As at 03 December 2007, there were a total
of 106 cases including six hospitalised cases, all of whom have been
discharged. Six cases tested positive for Salmonella Enteritidis. The
last case had onset of illness on 26 November 2007. |
|
More..... |
|
|
HIV cases on the rise in 2007 |
|
Out of the164
Singaporeans detected to be HIV infected in the first six months, about
93% of the new cases detected this year were males and 7% were females. |
|
Sexual transmission remains the main mode of HIV
transmission among Singaporeans. Of the 164 cases reported in the first
6 months of 2007, 155 cases acquired the infection through the sexual
route, with heterosexual transmission accounting for 67% of infections,
homosexual transmission 24% and bisexual transmission 3%. Intravenous
drug use (4 cases) accounted for 2%... |
|
More..... |
|
|
National Registry Of Diseases Bill passed |
|
Part II of the Bill establishes the
National Registry of Diseases and sets out its functions. These
include the collection of information on reportable diseases,
establishment of registers, compilation and publication of
statistics, and the provision of information for supporting health
services and national public health policies... |
|
Clause 6, in Part III of the Bill,
makes the notification of reportable diseases mandatory for
managers of all healthcare institutions. The burden is placed on
the manager as he has the management and control of the
institution. Very limited data will be required to make a
notification... |
|
More..... |
|
|
MOH starts inquiry into Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare
Centre |
|
As the general review into Ren Ci’s past
transactions also disclosed other gaps in corporate governance and
internal controls, MOH commissioned EYA to carry out a more in-depth
evaluation. |
|
The follow-up reviews have since identified
some possible irregularities in certain financial transactions involving
Ren Ci and certain external organisations. Hence, MOH is commencing an
Inquiry into Ren Ci to establish a fuller and better understanding of
these irregularities... |
|
More..... |
|
|
New governance structure for NUH and NUS School of
Medicine |
|
MOE and MOH have jointly agreed for NUS and
NHG to establish a new governance structure for the NUS School of
Medicine (NUS-SoM) and the National University Hospital (NUH)... |
|
Under the new governance structure, NUH and
NUS-SoM will be repositioned as a joint operating entity. This new
NUH-SoM entity will be governed by one Governing Board which will
include senior members from NHG, NUS, MOH and MOE... |
|
More..... |
|
|
New 550-bed Khoo Teck Puat Hospital |
|
MOH is building a regional hospital in
Yishun to better serve residents from the Northern region of Singapore.
Spanning over 3.4 hectares, the 550-bed hospital will offer a
comprehensive range of medical and healthcare services. |
|
The new public sector hospital will be named
Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, following the promise of a donation of $125
million from the family of the late banker and philanthropist Tan Sri
Khoo Teck Puat... |
|
More..... |
|
|
Medical devices in Singapore to be regulated |
|
HSA is adopting a phased approach in
implementing the new regulations to minimise the impact to the
supply of medical devices and to provide sufficient time for the
industry to meet the new standards and requirements. The control
measures will be implemented in three phases, starting from 1
November 2007:.. |
|
More..... |
|
|
Proposed amendments to the Infectious Diseases Act |
|
Therefore, we propose to amend the IDA to
empower the Director of Medical Services (DMS) to obtain left-over
samples, and send them for the tests and examinations for the purpose of
monitoring the infectious disease situation in Singapore... |
|
The Ministry proposes to expand the IDA to
empower DMS to close any premises as non-food establishments may also be
the source of an outbreak... |
|
We propose to amend the IDA so that when
required, the DMS may require medical practitioners as well as other
categories of health care workers (e.g. TCM practitioners, dentists,
pharmacists, etc.) to obtain disease related information from their
patients... |
|
MOH proposes to expand the IDA to
address the situation where an individual who, although unaware
that he is HIV-positive, has reason to believe that he has been
exposed to the risk of contracting HIV or AIDS (e.g. by having
unprotected casual sex with multiple partners)... |
|
More..... |
|
|
159 Foreign Medical Schools recognised in Singapore |
|
The Ministry of Health and the Singapore
Medical Council (SMC) will be including an additional 19 leading
international medical schools to the Schedule of the Medical
Registration Act with effect from 1st October 2007... |
|
Included are 6 medical schools from China, 4
from India, 4 from Japan, 2 from Taiwan and 1 from South Korea. 2 more
medical schools from Europe have also been added... |
|
Singaporeans graduating from any of the 159
international medical schools can also come back to Singapore, to
supplement the number graduating from our own medical schools... |
|
More..... |
|
|
Registration of optometrists and opticians starts in
Sep 2007 |
|
In July this year, Parliament passed the
Optometrists & Opticians Act. The Act which aims to raise the standard
of eye care in Singapore will come into effect on 1 January 2008... |
|
Applications for registration by the
Optometrists and Opticians Board have just started. Optometrists
and opticians are advised to apply for registration before 15
December 2007, in order to continue practising as optometrists or
opticians from January 2008... |
|
More..... |
|
|
Foreign domestic worker levy concession for disabled
persons |
|
Employers may now apply for the FDW Levy
Concession (Persons with disability) from 15 September 2007. |
|
The FDW Levy Concession (Persons with
disability) will help families of persons with disability reduce costs
of caregiving where a full-time caregiver is needed... |
|
Employers applying for the levy concession
will need to obtain a medical assessment on the functional ability of
the person with disability in performing his/her activities of daily
living... |
|
More..... |
|
|
A healthy life and a good, dignified and discreet
death |
|
 |
|
First, their traditional diet: they eat more
pork, more tofu (bean curd), more dark green vegetables and
more seaweed than other Japanese... |
|
Second, they are physically active. They
exercise a lot and keep active all their lives. They work for as long as
there is work available. |
|
Third, their active daily life in turn
benefits their sleep at night. They sleep easily and while they do not
sleep long, they sleep soundly with little interruptions. |
|
So this is the Ogimi secret to longevity: a
healthy diet, an active life and good quality sleep... |
|
End-of-life issues are deeply emotional. But
at the Ogimi village, I did not find the villagers squeamish when
talking about it. They laughed and joked about it. |
|
They realise that treating death as taboo
does a disservice to both the dying and the living, adding to
loneliness, anxiety and stress for all. They are grateful for a healthy
life and pray for a good, dignified and discreet death, a “pokkuri”
moment. |
|
It takes humility to acknowledge that
medical science, however advanced, has its limits. For the most
vulnerable group of patients at the close of their lives, for whom
curable treatment is no longer an option -- their last moments matter... |
|
More..... |
|
|
Rapid HIV testing now available in medical clinics |
|
"As of 1 Aug 2007, the Ministry of Health (MOH)
is allowing HIV testing with rapid HIV test kits to be offered in
medical clinics. Rapid HIV tests are screening tests that produce very
quick results, in approximately 20 minutes... |
|
"Rapid HIV testing can only be conducted in a medical clinic by trained
clinic personnel, and only clinics which have participated in an MOH
training workshop on Rapid HIV Testing are allowed to offer rapid HIV
testing..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Two new specialty centres for cancer and heart disease |
|
MOH is setting up two new specialty centres
for cancer and heart disease at the National University Hospital to meet
the rising demand for tertiary care in these specialties... |
|
Cancer and heart disease are the top
two killers, with cancer taking 4000 lives in Singapore each year.
They will remain the major causes of death and morbidity. New
cancer cases are projected to increase from 9,000 per year to
13,000 by 2015. For cardiology, outpatient attendances are
projected to grow from 200,000 per year to 320,000 by 2015. We
must ramp up our capacity and capabilities to meet this rapidly
growing demand... |
|
More..... |
|
|
Drug addiction situation in Singapore |
|
"The drug addiction situation in Singapore
is under control, even though 999 drug abusers were arrested in the
first half of this year, compared to 446 over the same period last year. |
|
"Of the total number of abusers arrested,
Buprenorphine abusers formed the majority, at 41%, with heroin abusers
at 30% and synthetic drug abusers at 25%. |
|
"One reason for the increase of 553 abusers
is that the Central Narcotics Bureau gazetted Buprenorphine as a
controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act in August last year..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Proposed amendments to the Human Organ Transplant Act |
|
"Following the recent ruling by the Fatwa
Committee of MUIS that Muslims can be included under the Human Organ
Transplant Act (HOTA), the Ministry of Health intends to amend HOTA to
improve the access of Muslim patients to donated organs... |
|
"MOH proposes to amend the HOTA to include,
upon death, Muslims who are Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents
(PR) between the ages of 21 and 60 years, who are of sound mind, and who
have not opted out... |
|
"The inclusion of Muslims under HOTA is
expected to provide up to five additional organ donors per year
(yielding up to 10 kidneys, 10 corneas, 5 livers and 5 hearts)..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Draft Mental Capacity Bill for public consultation |
|
"Currently, under the Mental Disorders and
Treatment Act (MDTA), the High Court can appoint a Committee of Person
or Committee of Estate to manage the personal welfare of or make
property related decisions for a person who is incapable of managing
himself or his affairs. However, the appointment can only be done after
a person has lost his mental capacity. |
|
"One of the key features of the draft Mental
Capacity Bill is that it will provide a statutory framework to allow a
person to voluntarily make advance plans for his financial and personal
welfare..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Update on the Norovirus outbreak at Pioneer Primary
School |
|
"Norovirus was confirmed in the stool
of six food handlers. These findings highlight the importance of
good food and personal hygiene. In particular, symptomatic persons
should refrain from handling food when they are not well. |
|
"The six infected food handlers have
been issued orders prohibiting them from working until they are
certified free of infection. MOH has also advised the school on
the necessary prevention and control measures to avoid future
outbreaks. |
|
"Pioneer Primary School recorded a
total of 147 Norovirus gastroenteritis cases, comprising students,
staff and food handlers, during the recent outbreak. The illness
is self-limiting and most recovered within 1-3 days. None was
hospitalised..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Rehabilitation regime for first and second-time
abusers of cannabis and cocaine |
|
"The aim
of the treatment and rehabilitation regime is to give
first and second time abusers a chance at
rehabilitation without the stigmatisation of a
criminal record... |
|
"Recalcitrant abusers with two previous records for
consumption of cannabis or cocaine or that of opiates,
synthetic drugs or buprenorphine who are arrested
again for the consumption of any of these drugs would
be liable for long term imprisonment under the Long
Term (LT) Imprisonment Regime, if convicted..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Public consultation on proposed National Registry of
Diseases Bill |
|
"The Ministry of Health is proposing to
introduce a National Registry of Diseases (NRD) Bill... |
|
"Currently, the NRD includes registries for
cancer, renal failure, heart disease and stroke. |
|
"The information captured by the NRD is
mainly from public sector healthcare institutions who submit data
on a voluntary basis. |
|
"There is a need for data from the
private sector to be included so that the dataset is complete and
useful for national level planning..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Payout period for IDAPE claimants extended to 6 years |
|
"IDAPE is
fully funded by the Government: those who are eligible
for IDAPE benefits are not required to pay premiums.
IDAPE is means-tested as it is targeted at helping the
low-income elderly who are severely disabled... |
|
"The claims criteria for
IDAPE are the same as ElderShield. IDAPE claimants are
those who are unable to perform at least 3 out of the
6 Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). They receive $100
to $150 per month depending on their monthly per
capita household income..." |
|
More..... |
|
-
Third local dengue death reported
-
National Health Surveillance Survey 2007
|
$60 million ElderShield premium rebates |
|
"Our preliminary computations suggest that
the total ElderShield rebate amount is likely to exceed $60 million.
When confirmed, it will be distributed to the existing policyholders
numbering some 770,000. |
|
The rebates, when confirmed, will be given
out in proportion to each policyholder’s contribution during the 5-year
period..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Phasing out of temporary registered doctors for
service provision |
|
"Only temporary medical registration for service provision is being
phased out by 31 Dec 2007. |
|
"Existing temporary registered doctors brought in as service providers
before 1 Jan 2008 can still continue to work here until they either
become conditionally registered (acquired recognized postgraduate
qualifications) or they have completed their 4-6 years of service in
Singapore..." |
|
More..... |
|
-
Update on dengue situation in Singapore
|
Suspension of poultry and egg imports from Selangor, Malaysia |
|
"The Malaysian Department of Veterinary
Services (DVS) informed the Agri- Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) this
morning (6 Jun 2007) that it had detected an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu
in chickens in a village household in Sungei Buluh, Selangor. |
|
"About 60 chickens had died as a result of
the outbreak. Although the poultry and layer farms in Selangor that have
been approved to export to Singapore are bio-secured, AVA is suspending
poultry and egg imports from Selangor as a precautionary measure with
immediate effect..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Home for children and the elderly under one roof opens |
|
"The
4-storey purpose-built facility comprising 2 homes,
Sunbeam Place and Evergreen Place, was completed in
May 06 and commenced operations a month later. |
|
"Sunbeam Place is a group home for children
and young persons run by Singapore Children's Society. Evergreen Place
is a home for the aged run by Singapore Amalgamated Services
Co-operative Senior Citizens Home..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Adequacy of subsidised B2 & C beds in public hospitals |
|
"Our current bed situation is tight,
particularly in the Tan Tock Seng Hospital as it is the only hospital
serving the large population in the north besides its own catchment
area. |
|
"The over-crowding in TTSH in turn causes spill-over to the other
hospitals, especially National University Hospital and Changi General
Hospital. There will be relief when the new general hospital in Yishun
opens in 3 years time..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Exhibition on infectious diseases and their impact on
Singapore |
|
"Hosted at the Central Lending Library in
Basement 1 of the National Library at 100 Victoria Street, the
exhibition will be open to the public from noon of Thursday 24 May until
Sunday 8 July from 10am to 9pm daily... |
|
"Through text panels, photographs, artefacts,
interactive displays, video clips, documents and news reports, visitors
to the exhibition will be able to learn how and what they can all do to
fight and prevent diseases, individually and as a nation..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
MOH drafting a National Disease Registry Bill |
|
"We support the stand that personal
information identifiable to an individual participating in human
biomedical research should be safeguarded. |
|
"Proper rules governing the access and use of
personal information and a secure system of information protection would
re-assure research subjects on the confidentiality of personal
information. |
|
"In this connection, MOH is drafting a
National Disease Registry Bill to provide an overarching legal framework
for the collection of epidemiological information on key diseases for
public health policy and planning purposes..." |
|
More..... |
|
-
Decline in Tuberculosis incidence in Singapore
-
140 Foreign Medical Schools recognised in Singapore
One Singaporean, one electronic medical record (EMR) |
|
|
|
Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for Health |
|
"Right now, it is one Singaporean,
multiple medical records, stored away in different clinics and
hospitals in different formats, and not connected or consolidated.
As a result, when patients visit different doctors, they have to
have tests repeated and scans redone. This adds to unnecessary
cost. |
|
"We are moving towards this target of
'One Singaporean, One EMR'. Because of legacy systems, we cannot
achieve it in one step. But we have made progress... |
|
"However, this is a complex national
project - very few if any countries have successfully implemented
a system that links up public, private and the charity sector..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Gearing up Singapore for its 2020 healthcare needs |
|
"MediShield coverage among active
workers is not bad, at 90%. But 390,000 Singaporeans below 20
years of age are not insured. The premium at their age is
inexpensive, only $30 per year. |
| "And
young parents can use their Baby Bonus to pay the
premium. So cost is not the issue... |
|
"We will introduce an
opt-out scheme for infants to be automatically covered
under MediShield from the time their births are
registered. |
|
"Premiums can be deducted
from their fathers' Medisave or alternatively their
mothers'. Parents who do not want such coverage can
opt out any time by informing the CPF Board. We will
get this done later this year..." |
|
More..... |
|
|
Liberalisation of Medisave |
|
As part of the review of Medisave, the
Ministry of Health will be increasing the withdrawal limits in the
following four areas: |
- The inpatient per diem limit
will be increased from $400 to $450;
- The day surgery limit will be
increased from $200 to $300;
- The annual limit for psychiatric
bills will be increased from $3,500 to $5,000;
- Medisave will be allowed for
diagnostic scans such as MRI and CT scans, if they form parts of
outpatient cancer treatment.
|
|
More..... |
|
-
|
