Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Prevention Is Better Than Cure.

For those of you who find it too boring or too troublesome to read the budget speech provided by Christopher's links, here is an extract of the key points from that speech.


“Prevention is better than cure”.
(Staying Healthy: Promotion and Prevention).


School health:
Our vision is for Singapore to have the healthiest young population in the world.

HPB will promote healthy canteen food and active participation in physical education lessons and co-curricular activities. It will also focus on enhancing the mental wellness of our youths to help them weather challenges in life.

Parents also play a vital role and HPB will help empower parents to be positive role models to their children.

Workplace health:
MOH and HPB have embarked on a multi-year tripartite effort to roll out health screening, health promotion activities and chronic disease management programmes in workplaces.
We cannot neglect the mental and emotional well-being of our workers and HPB will help our workers better manage stress, as well as strengthen their resilience to cope with change positively.

Tackling smoking and obesity:
We must tackle the twin dangers of smoking and obesity head-on.
Obesity is the second most important cause of global mortality and morbidity after smoking. And both of them are preventable.

We will also tackle childhood obesity by ensuring that our children have access to healthier food and drinks in schools.

Detect and Treat Diseases Early: Chronic Disease Management:
In 2004, diabetes was most prevalent amongst Indians, affecting 15% of the Indian community, followed by Malays at 11% and Chinese at 7%. The prevalence of high cholesterol was highest amongst Malays at 23% followed by Chinese (18%) and Indians (17%). However, Malay and Indian communities had a lower prevalence of high blood pressure (23% and 22% respectively) compared to Chinese (26%).

Patients should go for regular follow-ups with their doctor, take their medication on time, and make the appropriate lifestyle changes, e.g. in their diet.

There was a 17% increase in the number of Malay kidney failure patients from 2005 to 2007.
HPB has made headway in facilitating lifestyle change among the Malay and Indian communities, to prevent the development of chronic diseases. It will continue to build on this good work in the year ahead.
For example, “Kebayarobics” and “Aarrokia Attam” workout routines have been started for Malay/Muslim women and the Indian community respectively.

Healthy cooking classes tailored for the Malay/Muslim community have also been conducted at mosques and community clubs since 2006. This programme will be extended to Malay caterers and restaurants this year.

As part of this effort, HPB will reach out to the Malay and Indian communities through the Suria and Vasantham television channels respectively, beyond efforts on Channels 5 and 8.
Singaporeans must take charge of their own health by taking a step back and spot and address problems early.

Mental Health:
Other than IMH, all our restructured and some private hospitals also provide specialised psychiatric services. We will monitor the adequacy of such facilities and build more if required.

Family members can also receive caregiver training and support under a Specialised Caregiver Support Service that MOH, NCSS and the Alzheimer’s Disease Association are enhancing.

Breast Cancer:
The challenge ahead is to ensure that women make breast cancer screening a regular part of their life. We will ensure that screening is kept affordable for women.

Other avenues of support:
As the GPs take on a greater role in healthcare management in the community, waiting times at polyclinics should shorten.

Patients can view the patient load at the polyclinics online so that they can know when is a good time to see the doctor.

For those with chronic conditions requiring regular or frequent reviews, they can choose to make appointments at the dedicated Family Physician Clinics, to see their regular doctors and save on waiting time as well.

Conclusion:
Singaporeans are urged to help shape the healthcare landscape – take personal responsibility for your own health and encourage your loved ones to do so too.



(extracted from MOH's Budget Debate for FY 2009 - links provided by Christopher Teo)
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