News

While Singapore has made strides in its campaign against tobacco, more can be done to shift the needle particularly among the youths. Smoking prevalence among Singaporeans aged 18 to 29 increased from 12 per cent in 2004 to 16 per cent in 2010. A study by Senior Research Fellow Yvette van der Eijk and Assistant Professor Lee Jeong Kyu shows that it might have to do with the misperception associated with menthol tobacco products – that they were ‘healthier’ than regular cigarettes. In addition to damaging health like regular cigarettes, menthol cigarettes are inRead more

A recent study found that boys under five years old who watch television and use electronic devices over a long period of time have higher body fat as compared to girls who do the same. Carried out from December 2011 to February 2019, the study surveyed 1,000 young children, including participants of the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) cohort study, and was led by Associate Professor Falk Müller-Riemenschneider, Programme Leader (Physical Activity and Nutrition Determinants in Asia). Results showed that a large proportion of Singaporean children are increasinglyRead more

More than 3,000 cases of dengue infections have already been reported over the last four months this year, nearly exceeding the total number of cases reported in the whole year of 2018. “As the number of dengue infections was considerably low in the past three years, the risk of an individual being exposed to the virus is also lower, which could have resulted in weakened herd immunity due to natural infection over time”, said Assistant Professor Vincent Pang, Director, Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research. “If the number of dengueRead more

Unhealthy food environments, where energy-dense nutrient-poor foods are widely available, more affordable, and heavily promoted, are not supportive of healthy eating. In fact, poor dietary habits is one of the leading behavioural risk factors for premature death and ill health in Singapore. Therefore, it is crucial to measure and improve the health of our food environments. Government actions, which can regulate the cost, availability, accessibility and promotion of healthier foods, are important determinants of the quality of our food environments. As part of the School’s Physical Activity and Nutrition Determinants inRead more

Associate Professor Norbert Wagner is an occupational health physician who has spent most of the last twenty years setting up training programmes in different countries to build capacity in prevention at the workplace. Norbert also works as a specialist and consultant in occupational health for governments and companies. Yesterday was World Day for Safety and Health at Work, and the International Labour Organization’s 100th anniversary. To commemorate this day, we are shining a light on an often overlooked area: the impact of work on health and well-being. Workers in the formalRead more

Celebrated in the last week of April (24–30 April), the World Health Organization (WHO) World Immunization Week aims to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease, and raise awareness of the importance of full immunisation throughout life. This year’s theme is Protected Together: Vaccines Work. The campaign celebrates Vaccine Heroes from around the world — from parents and community members to health workers and innovators — who help ensure we are all protected, at all ages, through the power of vaccines. Today we speakRead more

World #Malaria Day is commemorated every 25 April and recognises global efforts to control malaria. Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite that is transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes and often leads to a flu-like illness with fever. If left untreated, it may develop severe life-threatening complications. In 2017, there were 219 million malaria cases and 435,000 malaria deaths worldwide. About 90 per cent of malaria cases are in the World Health Organization (WHO) African region, followed by WHO Southeast Asian region with five per cent of the cases, and WHO Eastern Mediterranean regionRead more

Ageing workers offer more experience, but also potentially more health problems. This new generation of older workers want to remain engaged and productive, yet they are the ones among whom we see higher chronic disease prevalence than previous generations. How do we manage these competing ideologies on ageing? Dr Jeff Hwang shares that companies should enable our older workers to remain in the workforce for as long as they desire. Doing so can counter the potential adverse economic impacts of an ageing society, which can slow economic growth and nationalRead more

Singapore adopts a harm restriction approach in its tobacco control, including limiting the places where one can smoke, taxation, advertising bans, and more recently, raising the minimum legal age for smoking and introducing standardised packaging of tobacco products. While these measures reduced smoking rates 50–60 years ago, the proportion of smokers has remained stagnant in recent years. “Perhaps the answer lies in harm reduction strategies, a well-accepted and established approach in public health,” said Professor Chia Kee Seng, Founding Dean. Harm reduction tools include nicotine patches, low-tar cigarettes, and more recently,Read more

Singapore aims to become one of the top countries with the safest and healthiest workplaces by 2028. Workplace fatal injury rates here have fallen from 4.9 per 100,000 in 2004 to 1.2 in 2017 and 2018, the lowest ever recorded. The target now is to reduce this further to below 1.0 per 100,000 workers by 2028, a safety level that has been achieved by only four OECD countries on a sustained basis (United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden). Earlier this month, the Ministry of Manpower announced its strategies forRead more

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the medical field is an emerging topic of interest, but it is already in practice in China where the use of AI on the medical frontline has reduced the burden on overworked doctors, in turn improving diagnostic efficiency and allowing for more time spent with patients. The technology is used mostly for medical imaging, such as in radiology departments to read CT scans or MRIs. The AI is fed with 10 years’ worth of data from diverse patient cases where it learns toRead more

#WorldHealthDay falls on 7 April and its main theme is Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the number one goal for the World Health Organization (WHO). Today we talk to Adjunct Associate Professor Jeremy Lim, who has an in-depth knowledge of the Singapore healthcare model and gives us his reflections.