January 2019

What is the importance of health technology assessment (HTA) in health decision making? What are the processes and methods adopted by the various HTA entities in Singapore and the region? How has the role of HTA evolved in the context of universal health coverage (UHC)? These were some of the questions covered at the ‘Health Technology Assessment: Selecting the Highest Value Care’ Training and Symposium on 8-10 January, jointly organised by the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP), Thailand. The eventRead more

Malnutrition is a problem often perceived to be linked to food shortages, but many people do not realise that it can also be caused by excessive consumption of empty calories, such as from sugar. Singapore has already adopted a range of measures when it comes to managing sugar consumption, including prohibiting the sale of beverages with excessive amounts of sugar in schools and public sector buildings, and introducing the Healthier Choice symbol to highlight products with lower levels of sugar. But the measures recently proposed by the Ministry of Health,

Based on last year’s National Nutrition Survey by the Health Promotion Board, Singaporeans take an average of 60g of sugar a day, which is higher than the 50g limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). High-sugar food and drinks are getting cheaper and becoming more easily available, while portion sizes are getting bigger and people are eating more processed food. “One reason for the increased portion size of sugary beverages is probably that the incremental cost of producing larger-sized beverages is relatively low, while a larger beverage size gives

Traditionally, workplace wellbeing focused on occupational safety and health, because concerns about it arose during a time where most jobs were blue-collar and many workplaces were full of hazards. However, workplaces have evolved and the greatest hazards for many are no longer hearing loss or accidents caused by machines, but the onset of chronic diseases such as diabetes or burnout-linked depression. The increasingly sedentary nature of work demands we place greater emphasis on health promotion. Dean, Professor Teo Yik Ying, shares about the national programme on Total Workplace Safety and Health (Total

Southeast Asians make up about 20 per cent of the 450 million people living with diabetes globally, with many of them living in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Experts have blamed this on a prevalence of processed and unhealthy food, a lack of early intervention for patients and misinformation — for a long time, diabetes was thought to be a disease that afflicted people in wealthier countries. But Singapore is leading the fight against diabetes in Southeast Asia, taking a proactive approach to prevention and early treatment. “There aren’t many countries doing

In recent years, Singapore has ramped up its measures to drive down the smoking rate, including banning point-of-sale display, increasing excise taxes and prices, banning alternative tobacco products, and proposing standardised packaging for all tobacco products. Joining this slew of measures with effect from 1 January 2019 are the country’s first precinct-wide smoking ban along Orchard Road, and the raising of the minimum legal age to smoke from 18 to 19. Vice Dean (Research), Associate Professor Alex Cook, said there is clear evidence linking smoking bans to improved cardiovascular health