Public Health Thought Leadership Dialogue: Future Proofing Public Health Care

As the world gradually recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, many cannot help but wonder what more can be done to safeguard our healthcare systems and prepare for the next global health crisis. After all, it is a question of ‘when’ it will happen, not ‘if’.

The 10th instalment of the Public Health Thought Leadership Dialogue (PHTLD) held on 2 June 2022 featured guest speaker Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister of Health for Malaysia, who spoke on the topic of Future Proofing Public Health Care.

Minister Khairy Jamaluddin giving his talk on the topic of Future Proofing Public Health Care.

The 90-minute-long event held at MD1 Tahir Foundation Building brought together policy makers, public health professionals, academics and researchers to explore how countries can future-proof their public healthcare systems.

Commenting on the calls for health care reforms as highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister Khairy noted, “The systems we have today are arguably stuck in paradigms of past models, population profiles, or ways of working that no longer serve us.”

“We need to build back better…towards a resilient health system that is capable of absorbing shocks such as public health emergencies or managing demographic challenges like an ageing population,” he added.

Minister Khairy highlighted 4 key areas of reform, namely:

  1. Achieve equitable healthcare access and quality
  2. Boost healthcare financing
  3. Shift from a reactive treatment-focused mindset to proactive preventive healthcare
  4. Enhance transparency and accountability across the health care sector

Following the talk was a panel discussion moderated by Assoc Prof Jeremy Lim, Director of Leadership Institute for Global Health Transformation (LIGHT), with panellists Dr Ong Suan Ee, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Research for Impact, and Dr Hsien-Hsien Lei, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.

From left: Dr Ong Suan Ee, Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, and Dr Hsien-Hsien Lei discussed the way forward in a panel moderated by Assoc Prof Jeremy Lim.

The panellists emphasised the importance of strong collaboration among different parties to better prepare our healthcare systems for future challenges.

At the end of the event, NUS President Prof Tan Eng Chye and Assoc Prof Hsu Li Yang, Vice Dean (Global Health), presented Minister Khairy with a calligraphy scroll replica of the memento first gifted to the late Prof Saw Swee Hock when the School was established in 2011. The multivalent scroll reads “health for all” when read from the right and “all for health” when read from the left.

NUS President Prof Tan Eng Chye (right) and Assoc Prof Hsu Li Yang presenting the calligraphy scroll to Minister Khairy Jamaluddin

 

Catch the full replay on YouTube now,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAx1AsC_5D4