新加坡卫生部长王乙康国会发言：新加坡评为世界上最佳的医疗系统

Patient data needs to flow across care delivering settings, from hospitals to clinics, to senior care and rehabilitation centres. This piece of work is almost done. What remains is a new law, which I hope to table in this House in the later part of this year. Regulation needs to move from being premises centric to services centric. So, we do not regulate hospitals or clinics, but the services delivered, regardless of settings. That is why we revamped our legislation to enact the new Healthcare Services Act (HCSA).

Financial support needs to be settings and premises neutral. But we cannot simply apply this based on first principles, as it is bound to lead to abuse and unintended behaviour. Instead, we progressively identify the situations and circumstances where premises-neutrality should apply, and then make deliberate rule changes. We made a few changes last year on the mutual recognition of MediFund and extension of MediSave support to manage chronic illnesses via telehealth. This year, I just announced further moves on community hospitals, MIC@Home and MediSave support for telehealth.

Most importantly, we need to be decisive and deliberate in making investments in preventive care and health of our population. We often hear calls for investment in hospital capacity, in our medical manpower. This is valid. But what is more important for the long term is capacity expansion in communities and society, in its ability to prevent sickness and build health. We are doing so via Healthier SG, and we are starting to see a change. More residents are coming forward to exercise, cycle, run or brisk walk. People are watching their sugar intake.

Sodium takes a while more. Food and beverage (F&B) players are switching to lower-sodium salt. Christine Lock, who sells Nasi Lemak, she was the first to do so at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre. She did so voluntarily, because she had a loved one who suffered a heart attack. She said, "I want to take care of my customers."

Film Director Jack Neo has started a brisk walking group for seniors, started during the pandemic. It is called "趴趴走". In English, it means walking around for fun. His event is every week, and it will attract almost 1,000 participants, young and old, from all over Singapore. If they descend on one of your communities, you will immediately notice. A thousand people gathering somewhere. For them, brisk walking has become a new habit, and they made new friends. Jack and his team even composed a song about "趴趴走" and incorporated messages of Healthier SG. They did not consult me. So, when I joined them two weeks ago, everyone sang the song. Everyone knew the song except me.

Let me also share the story of Ms Cynthia Phua. Many Members will know her, she was a former Member of Parliament. She agreed to let me share her story with you today. She enrolled into Healthier SG late last year, with a GP clinic near her home. The GP noticed that she had not done a mammogram for three years. So, repeatedly reminded her to do. Eventually she did, late last year. That was when Cynthia found out that she might have breast cancer, and it was later confirmed through a biopsy. Fortunately, it was discovered early. She has since gone through an operation to remove the tumour, and no further tumors were discovered in her body.

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