MINISTRY OF HEALTH

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong Minister for Health

1. The Ministry of Health aims to nurture a healthy nation by promoting good health, by emphasising prevention, and by providing good health care at affordable prices.

Nurturing a Healthy Nation

2. We will continue to stress personal responsibility in maintaining one's own health, and saving for one's health expenses. We will promote disease prevention programmes, and healthy lifestyles including physical activity and good nutrition.

Ensuring Good and Affordable Health Care

3. As incomes rise, so will demand for medical services and expectations of higher standards of care. We are upgrading our health care system to improve the standard of health care delivered, and to deliver good health care to every segment of the population.

4. We have built a new Institute of Health and National Dental Centre. We have opened 7 new-generation polyclinics and are completing 2 more in Chua Chu Kang and the Central area. New polyclinics are also planned for Yishun and Pasir Ris.

5. We have built two new hospitals: New Changi Hospital, and the Kandang Kerbau Women's and Children's Hospital. A third, the new Tan Tock Seng Hospital, will be ready by 1999. We will build another hospital in the Western part of the island. We will develop these into regional hospitals, and encourage each hospital to excel in 1 or 2 speciality areas, to build up their reputation and get Singa poreans living nearby to use them as their hospital of choice.

6. At the same time, the Ministry will keep basic medical services affordable. Polyclinics, specialist outpatient services and Class B2 and C hospital beds will continue to be subsidised heavily. We will build enough Class B2 and C beds to meet demand.

7. The Medisave, MediShield and Medifund schemes will ensure that health care remains cost-effective and sustainable. We will encourage Singaporeans who have opted out of MediShield to opt in, and persuade all Singaporeans to provide MediShield coverage for their dependants. Medifund will be the safety net for those who cannot afford the subsidised charges.

8. The Ministry will review the progress in implementing the 1993 White Paper on Affordable Health Care. We will examine the need to control balance billing by private specialists and hospitals whose patients use Medisave.

9. We will maintain high professional standards in private hospitals and medical clinics, through licensing, regulation and auditing of healthcare establishments. We will review the Medical Registration Act and set up a Register of Specialists. We will enhance penalties for unauthorised medical practitioners, to protect the public.

10. We will follow through the implementation of the Advance Medical Directive Act. The AMD Register will be opened this year.

11. We will review the supply and remuneration of doctors, nurses and paramedical professionals. We must retain and reward talent in the public sector in order to achieve medical excellence. Pursuing Medical Excellence

12. We will promote medical excellence. Being the regional medical hub will help Singaporeans to enjoy a high standard of medical care without compromising on affordability.

13. We will strive for excellence in specific speciality areas. We already have 3 national centres specialising in skin, eye and heart diseases. In 1998, the Singapore Cancer Centre will be completed. It will be the tertiary centre for treatment, teaching and research in the field of cancer. The Neuroscience Institute, to be ready by 1999, will play a similar role in neurological diseases.

14. New medical technologies will generate new demand. The Ministry will ensure proper trade-offs between the potentially high costs of these new techniques and their benefits in terms of better treatment outcomes.

15. We will help to upgrade the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Health Services for the Elderly

16. The Ministry will pay special attention to the healthcare needs of the elderly. Two new community hospitals will be built - one at the former site of Toa Payoh Hospital, and the other in Simei. The Ministry is assisting 14 Voluntary Welfare Organisations to plan and construct new nursing homes. By the year 2000, we will have 6,500 nursing home beds, 50% more than at present, and 10 new day centres providing day care and rehabilitation services. Home care services, including home nursing and home help services, will also be expanded to cater to the elderly sick who live at home.