Improving Health-span of Singaporeans

Mr Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant asked the Minister for Health (a) what efforts are being taken by the Ministry and its agencies to reduce the gap between the health-span and lifespan of Singaporeans; (b) whether, in the Ministry’s assessment, employers have a role towards improving the health-span of Singaporeans; and (c) if so, how.

Reducing the current 10-year gap between health-span and life-span, is the ultimate objective of healthcare and which all our efforts revolve around. This includes efforts to expand healthcare capacity to enhance accessibility, leveraging technology to improve healthcare in a sustainable manner, shifting the centre of gravity of care to communities and homes as far as possible, tackling the "buffet syndrome" caused by excessive insurance, developing our manpower and, very importantly, building up population health through preventive care strategies such as Healthier SG and Age Well SG.

Employers can play a major role because work is such a significant part of our lives. There are many areas where employers can contribute, but let me highlight a few key areas.

First, and a very critical one, is to be able to employ older workers for as long as possible, even beyond statutory retirement and re-employment age, so that those who want to work can continue to do so. This may mean having employees and employers work together to ensure there is flexibility in deployment and in adjusting roles, responsibilities and remuneration. The ability to contribute and learn, and having colleagues around is a major factor that builds health.

Second, employers can adopt good workplace health practices, advocate healthy lifestyle initiatives for employees, and strengthen monitoring and management of occupational diseases.

In this regard, the Ministry of Health and the tripartite partners jointly released the Tripartite Statement on “Enhancing Employee Health and Well-being in Support of Healthier SG” in July last year. Recommendations for employers included actively supporting Healthier SG enrolment among their employees and implementing health-promoting workplace practices.