News

In response to an opinion editorial titled ‘Why a ban on e-cigarettes may not be the best policy’, Professor Teo Yik Ying, Dean, wrote that the ban on the sale, import, use and possession of e-cigarettes is a responsible, calibrated and prudent approach in formulating public health policies, considering what we currently know and do not know about e-cigarettes. Citing Dengvaxia as an example, Prof Teo cautioned against embracing healthcare innovations indiscriminately, especially in situations where the benefits and costs are unclear. However, he also shared that policymakers should be open-mindedRead more

The NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Health Environment Management Agency (HEMA), Ministry of Health of Viet Nam on 6 May 2018. Through this collaboration, the institutes will cooperate to develop trainer capabilities for occupational health and safety in the workplace; establish integrated workplace safety and health management, also known as Total Workplace Safety and Health (Total WSH); and build holistic leadership, management and specialist capabilities in programme planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public healthcare programmes.Supported by Temasek FoundationRead more

The School is pleased to announce that Assistant Professors Falk Mueller-Riemenschneider and Clarence Tam are recipients of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health Faculty Awards AY2016/2017. Dr Falk has been awarded with the SSHSPH Teaching Excellence Award AY2016/2017, which recognises faculty members who have excelled in teaching, and have shown a high level of performance, dedication and commitment to teaching and learning. Dr Tam is the recipient of the SSHSPH Young Researcher Award AY2016/2017, which recognises junior faculty members who have demonstrated great potential in research and achieved research excellence.

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 spend in the sun each day. The watch has a light meter that tracks light intensity of their surroundings, which is then translated into hours and minutes spent outdoors. Listen to the podcast here: Are ScreensRead 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 common in ethnic Malays, and Indians have a higher risk of Type 2 Diabetes as they are more prone to insulin resistance. As for the Chinese, although the risk of diabetes is lower, they areRead 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 address and introduced the speakers: Professor Sten Vermund, Dean of Yale School of Public Health and Anna M.R. Lauder Professor of Public Health; Professor Teo Yik Ying, Dean of NUS Saw Swee Hock School of PublicRead more

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 lessons learnt in dealing with the disease then, and how we can apply them to tackle TB – in particular, multidrug-resistant TB – now. Read on: The disease that divides, and unites, TODAYonline, 24 MarchRead more

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 activity is good for health and that more activity is better… Achieving 10,000 steps daily is only one way of increasing physical activity beyond current levels, which tend to be insufficient for many individuals,” addedRead more

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 encourage uptake of breast cancer screening and early treatment. The book titled ‘Breast Cancer Meanings: Journeys Across Asia’ features findings from the pilot study conducted by researchers from SSHSPH and NUS Yong Loo Lin SchoolRead more

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 outbreak. Study on public acceptance of steps to curb outbreaks, Straits Times, 22 February 2018

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 by SSHSPH and the University of Melbourne that was recently published in BMJ Global Health. The team systematically reviewed 14 studies across Australia, Canada, India, South Korea and USA, and found that when compared to patientsRead more