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Singaporeans are living longer, but are we living healthier? As Singapore’s population increases in age and our lifestyles become more sedentary, reports show that 2 in 5 Singaporeans suffer from at least one chronic illness such as diabetes or high blood pressure. On the Red Dot learns about how some people have taken steps to change their lifestyles for the better, including bringing healthy living habits to the workplace. In this episode, Professor Chia Kee Seng, Dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, dispels some misconceptions that people have aboutRead more

Some of Singapore’s major healthcare news of 2013 included a deadly outbreak of dengue fever and a major revamp of Singapore’s healthcare system. Speaking to Power98 FM in an interview on major healthcare issues in the new last year, Professor Chia Kee Seng, Dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said that past research findings helped to better determine how patients were treated in this year’s dengue outbreak, which saw 8 fatalities and over 21,000 infections this year. He added that the management of the outbreak was good, and

The NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health is deeply saddened by the passing of Emeritus Professor Lee Shiu-Hung, former Director of Health, Hong Kong. Prof Lee was a graduate of the School’s Diploma of Public Health course (Class of ’63) and went on to become a respected leader and advocate in the field of public health in Hong Kong and internationally. He was appointed founding Director of Health upon the establishment of the Department of Health in April 1989 and headed the Department until 1994. Under his leadership,

Married women are also at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS from their infected husbands or partners, according to a study comissioned by the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) and led by Assoc Prof Wong Mee Lian from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health with support from the Department of STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections) Control, National Skin Centre and the Communicable Disease Centre. Among the women interviewed during the study, more than half of those diagnosed with HIV or AIDS had been infected by their husbands. Most lacked sexual empowerment

Our local favourite dishes may be even unhealthier than fast food, according to Assoc Prof Rob van Dam from the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, who was speaking at the 2nd Annual Worlds of Healthy Flavours Asia 2013. In fact, 25 local dishes including fried rice, claypot rice and chicken rice contain higher levels of salt than Western fare such pizza, burgers or fries, leading to an increased consumption of sodium. Taking into account the hectic lifestyles of Singaporeans, Assoc Prof van Dam suggested that in order to lower

Retinal imaging tests conducted during pregnancy can help assess foetal growth outcomes, complementing the conventional ultrasound scans done during pregnancy. The study, GUSTO (Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes), found that abnormal retinal blood vessels are associated with hypertension, stroke and cardiovascular mortality. Preliminary findings also found that women with smaller eye vessels during pregnancy had a high chance of a smaller foetal growth. Professor Saw Seang Mei from the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and principal investigator of the GUSTO study said that pregnant mothers who

On 5 December 2013, Utrecht University inked two Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (YLLSoM) and NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH) to foster partnerships on medical research and advancement. With this latest collaboration, the three institutions will see the exchange of scientific, academic and technical information and potentially two-way exchange of students, faculty, researchers and administrators. Ms Marjan Oudeman, President of Utrecht University, Professor John Wong, Chief Executive-Designate, National University Health System (NUHS) and Vice Provost (Academic Medicine), National University

Outdoor air pollution has been classified as carcinogenic to humans and positively correlated with increased risk of lung cancer and bladder cancer, according to a recent report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a specialised cancer agency of the World Health Organisation (WHO). It has already been proven that air pollution is linked to an increased risk of various other chronic conditions including respiratory and heart diseases. Professor Lee Hin Peng, head of the Chronic Diseases Programme at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National

The Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH) warmly congratulates our distinguished alumnus and philanthropist Professor Saw Swee Hock on receiving the President’s Award for Philanthropy (Individual category)! The award was presented by President of the Republic of Singapore, President Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam at the President’s Volunteerism and Philanthropy Awards (PVPA) ceremony on 23 October 2013, in honour of individuals and organisations who have set excellence benchmarks in encouraging the spirit of giving in Singapore. As a member of the NUS Board of Trustees, Professorial Fellow at

Two professors from the National University of Singapore will ride their motorcycles 23,000km from Singapore to Sweden, to raise awareness for breast cancer research and education. Associate Professors Mikael Hartman from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and Philip Iau from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine will embark on The Long Ride 2014 – Singapore to Swden For Breast Cancer Research to raise awareness and research funds for the disease, the most common cancer among females in Singapore. The expedition, which will begin in March 2014, will last four