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Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reproduced with permission. homeL THE STRAITS TIMES WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 2011 PAGE B2 pointed out that bumping up the number of trained professionals was important. Health-care “You can’t flush in the money and re- Health care ‘needs sources when, on the ground, there isn’t expenditure enough manpower to absorb it,” he said. One other area the Government should has increased by 54 per channel more funds to is technology, said Nee Soon GRC MP Lim Wee Kiak, an eye cent over the last few specialist in private practice. booster shot of funds’ years – from $7.9 billion “Having a seamless system that allows in 2006 to $12.2 billion a doctor to access a patient’s primary records is very important. We are a small last year. and wired country, and have this advan- tage. Govt must also invest Mr Gan said money must be spent in a In all public hospitals, the occupancy “We should find a way to integrate pa- “targeted way” so that it goes to where rate has ranged from 75 per cent to 85 per tient health records from public and pri- in training and relook and who needs it the most. cent since August last year, said the Min- vate hospitals and clinics,” he said. The national health-care expenditure istry of Health in a recent report. Dr Lam said government subsidies subsidies: MPs, experts has increased by 54 per cent over the last Two hospitals in Jurong and Sengkang needed to be increased in tandem few years – from $7.9 billion in 2006 to are scheduled to open in 2014 and 2020 with inflation. $12.2 billion last year. respectively. They will have about 1,300 “Otherwise, the out-of-pocket BY MELISSA PANG Dr Lam Pin Min, chairman of the Gov- beds in all. expenditure of Singaporeans will in- & POON CHIAN HUI ernment Parliamentary Committee for Last month, Mr Gan announced that crease. This may have added to the Health, suggested that a spending of he may push forward the opening date for perception that health care in Singa- MORE money needs to be injected into 6 per cent to 8 per cent of GDP would be the Sengkang hospital. pore has become less affordable.” health care to meet a demand for services more realistic in the long run. Associate Professor Fatimah Lateef, an Mr Lee pointed out that a re- He cited short- and long-term chal- from a growing and greying population, MP for Marine Parade GRC and a senior cent study on end-of-life care lenges such as the current public hospital said MPs and experts. consultant at the Singapore General Hos- commissioned by Lien Foundation bed crunch, long waiting times to see spe- The Government also needs to invest pital, noted that the doctor-to-patient ra- found that it was cheaper for peo- in training and relook subsidies, they add- cialists, a rapidly ageing Singapore, ple to die in hospital – because of health-care affordability and manpower tio needed improving. ed, after Health Minister Gan Kim Yong She said the country was now “playing subsidised care – than in their said health-care spending is likely to ex- requirements to meet future needs. homes. Last year, Singapore’s population catch-up” as health-care facilities and ceed the current 4 per cent of gross do- The study involved interviews with stood at 5.076 million. There were medical school recruitment had not in- mestic product (GDP). 78 doctors on their views of palliative 3.23 million citizens, 541,000 creased fast enough. It was the same In an interview with Chinese newspa- with nursing, she added. care. permanent residents (PRs) “Maybe more funds per Lianhe Zaobao published yesterday, Similarly, Lien Foundation and 1.305 million non-resi- need to be released he cited the demand for quality health- dents – foreigners living, chief executive Lee Poh Wah care services and an ageing population. for community studying and working and home How much and how fast health-care here. Health-care spending is likely spending will rise, he added, will depend to exceed the current care,” he In 1990, the popula- added. to a large extent on what is done with “in- tion was 3.04 million, 4 per cent of GDP, novation and managing costs”, efforts to comprising 2.62 million says Mr Gan. melpang@ promote health and whether the Govern- citizens, 112,000 PRs sph.com.sg ment succeeds in instilling personal re- and 311,000 non-resi- chpoon@ sponsibility for health. dents. sph.com.sg S’pore is Asia-Pacific’s most competitive IT market SINGAPORE has overtaken Australia to gal framework, government’s support claim the global No. 3 spot. and cellphone ownership, also helped ed jobs, said Mr Somerville. become the most competitive IT market and research and development (R&D) This is a result of Singapore making raise Singapore’s overall scores. But the country still lags behind others in the Asia-Pacific region, a study by the landscape. the right investments in the right areas, In the R&D category, the EIU exam- like Australia, the US and the Nether- Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) shows. The EIU is the business information said Mr Roger Somerville, senior director ined, for example, the number of patents lands in the maturity of its legal frame- Worldwide, Singapore moved up six arm of publisher The Economist Group. of policy at BSA Asia-Pacific. filed and expenditure in the public and pri- work. This category examines, among oth- places to third spot, after traditional heav- Last updated in 2009, the study was spon- Particularly, the country scored well in vate sectors. In the government support er things, the presence of data privacy yweights the United States and Finland. sored by anti-piracy trade group Business categories like R&D and government sup- category, factors evaluated include e-gov- and intellectual property laws and their The fourth report from EIU, called In- Software Alliance. port which were given a much higher ernment spending and presence of impar- enforcement. vestment For The future: Benchmarking In 2009, Singapore took the No. 2 spot weightage in the final computation of tial IT purchasing policies. The US has consistently retained its IT Industry Competitiveness 2011, scores in the Asia-Pacific region and ninth scores than other indicators like legal Singapore also did significantly better pole position as the world’s most competi- 66 countries on six key indicators. worldwide. This year, it surpassed Aus- framework. than before in human capital, measured tive IT market since the study was intro- They are overall business environ- tralia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Swe- The Government’s drive to wire up the by the number of people in higher educa- duced in 2007. ment, IT infrastructure, human capital, le- den, the Netherlands and Denmark to country, resulting in high PC, broadband tion and the number employed in IT-relat- IRENE THAM HDB extends Malay Village lease to 17 October For Subscription, call 6388-3838.