News

In the latest episode of CrowdScience on BBC World Service, Professor Saw Seang Mei spoke about the problem and causes of myopia in Singapore, as well as the recommended hours per week that children should spend outdoors in order to protect their eyes. She also discussed the FitSight watch that displays the amount of time users spendRead more

A paper was recently published on the Multi-Ethnic Cohort (MEC) that comprises large numbers of each ethnic group and studies risk factors and outcomes for chronic diseases. This is the first cohort study that looks at the health and quality of life of the three major ethnic groups in Singapore. It was found that high blood pressure is more

As part of its series ‘Innovations in Public Health: Science, Practice, Impact’, Yale-NUS College held the talk titled ‘The Future of Public Health: Leadership Perspectives from East and West’ on 19 March 2018. Professor Tan Tai Yong, President of Yale-NUS College welcomed guests and started the event. Professor Peter Salovey, President of Yale University then gave a short

To commemorate World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on 24 March, Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, Infectious Diseases Programme Leader, and historian Dr Loh Kah Seng recount Singapore’s history of TB in the post-war pre-independence period. Reminding us that “TB is not simply a medical disease, left solely to healthcare practitioners and public health officials”, they outline the

Counting your steps daily may not be necessary to reach your health goals. Health benefits are not dependent on achieving exactly 10,000 steps daily but are related to increasing one’s level of physical activity, said Assistant Professor Falk Mueller-Riemenschneider, Programme Leader (Physical Activity and Nutrition Determinants in Asia). “Official recommendations emphasise that any amount of physical

The ‘Breast Cancer Meanings’ fundraising gala dinner was held on Friday, 16 March 2018 in support of the NUS Asian Breast Cancer Research Fund. All funds raised go towards the research project led by Associate Professor Mikael Hartman, Programme Leader (Breast Cancer Prevention) that seeks to better understand Asian women’s health-seeking behaviours towards breast cancer and to

When it comes to stopping a deadly infectious disease outbreak, like in the case of SARS, Singaporeans prefer government interventions such as quarantine, cancellation of mass events and closure of schools. Led by Associate Professor Alex Cook, Vice Dean (Research), this study recently published in BMJ Open examined Singaporeans’ perceptions towards public health interventions during an

Following the Eldershield review committee’s recommendations, Associate Professor Joanne Yoong, Director of the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, shares why it’s important that we start saving for our long-term healthcare needs from a young age. Media coverage: ‘Singapore Tonight’, Channel NewsAsia, 18 February 2018

Tackling each disease in isolation may lead to the prescription of unnecessary medicines, resulting in expenses that are disproportionate to the number of conditions a patient has. These out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPE), which are costs not covered by insurance, increase dramatically with the number of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) a patient has, according to a study led

Recently, a man in the United States discovered a 1.6m tapeworm hanging from his rear end. The patient had eaten sushi and sashimi almost daily and his doctor shared that is most likely how he came to host the parasite. How common are such gut parasites in Singapore? Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, Programme Leader (Antimicrobial