COURAGE FUND

COURAGE FUND

29.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Health if he will give an update on the uses, expenses and balance left of the Courage Fund.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: The Courage Fund was jointly set up by the two public health clusters (National Healthcare Group and SingHealth), Singapore Medical Association, Singapore Nurses' Association and Singapore Press Holdings during the SARS crisis.

It struck a chord with Singaporeans and collected a total of $32 million: half from the public, half from the Government.

It is administered by a Board of Trustees, chaired by Mr Michael Lim (of National Healthcare Group), with the President as the Patron-in-Chief.

The trustees set three objectives for the Fund:

(a) First, to provide relief to SARS victims and healthcare workers and their dependents, and any persons placed under quarantine orders as a result of SARS.

(b) Second, to support any charitable purposes for the benefit of healthcare workers, especially in relation to the advancement of education; and

(c) Finally, to support any charitable purposes for the benefit of the general Singapore community who may be affected by widespread infectious diseases.

The Fund has granted or allocated all the $32 million collected for SARS relief and specific projects supporting these objectives. The breakdown is as follows:

(a) $1.5 million were disbursed to the patients and their families;

(b) $650,000 were spent on the welfare of Tan Tock Seng Hospital's healthcare workers and SARS patients during the SARS crisis;

(c) $6 million were disbursed as Courage Awards to 5,500 healthcare workers who made commendable contributions in the fight against SARS;

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(d) $2 million were set aside as education grants for the children of SARS victims;

(e) $3 million were set aside for bursary awards to help nurses and other health science professionals pursue degrees, masters and other postgraduate qualifications in the health sciences;

(f) $3 million were granted to NUS and CDC to set up a visiting professorship/fellowship scheme to engage international experts in epidemiology and infectious disease control;

(g) $16 million were set aside as an endowment to fund the annual Healthcare Humanity Awards, to recognise exemplary healthcare workers.