“Shift from healthcare to health”: DPM Heng Swee Keat

Singapore – Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) held a charity walk on Sunday (June 23) to raise money for its community fund. The heritage walk was a success, raising S$1 million for beneficiaries of the TTSH community fund.

The community fund is used to help less-than-fortunate patients pay for their medical expenses, support medical research, and aid community health initiatives.

The heritage walk from Pearl Hill to Novena was held to celebrate the hospital’s 175th anniversary.

According to an initial report by the Straits Times, there were 1,750 participants which included Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat.

Minister Heng described himself as a “big beneficiary” of Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He once suffered a stroke during a 2016 Cabinet meeting. He was taken to TTSH where he underwent surgery and was hospitalised for six weeks.

Read: Singaporeans have longest life expectancy in the world, but number of years of poor health is also up

In his message, Minister Heng thanked the medical professionals who assisted in his recovery. He mentioned that Health Minister Gan Kim Yong’s team are working on ways to help senior citizens stay healthy and active, saying that they are “shifting from just healthcare to health” and cited a report regarding Singapore’s long life expectancy.

During the 2019 Budget Hearing, Minister Heng said a total of $6.1 billion has been set aside under the Merdeka Generation Package which is expected to mitigate the healthcare costs of 500,000 Singaporeans.

Read: Can Budget 2019 healthcare budget combat Singaporean doctors’ practice of defensive medicine?

“This is a significant commitment by the Government … It is important that the government of the day continues to monitor the patterns and cost of healthcare utilisation, and life expectancy over the next 30 years or more, so that the government is able to meet this commitment,” he said during the budget hearing.

According to a report, Singapore’s healthcare cost inflation hit 10 percent in 2018, 10 times Singapore’s economic inflation rate. Singapore’s healthcare cost inflation is estimated to hit 10.1 percent in 2019./TISG

https://theindependent.sg.sg/medisave-top-ups-totaling-s270-million-available-to-qualified-seniors-starting-next-month/