Healthcare in Singapore: The present and future

Abstract

Singapore's rapidly evolving economy and social progress has helped accelerate the milestones of healthcare development in the country.(1) In 1970, a committee on specialisation was commissioned by the Singapore government to look into the development of specialised medical services and postgraduate specialty training. Since then, there has been a steady focus on the development of our healthcare sector and the advancement of medical specialties. This has catapulted Singapore's health system to a level on par with other advanced nations.(2) Today, healthcare systems around the world spend trillions of dollars annually to tackle the growing challenges in healthcare.(2-6) These challenges include epidemiological transitions of death rates (from maternal, perinatal and infectious diseases to cardiovascular diseases and cancers) and an ageing population with improved life expectancies.(2,7) Current lifestyle trends, which are by and large the result of technological advancements, have led to individuals having an increased number of risk factors, leading to the increased prevalence of multiple chronic diseases.(2,6) These chronic diseases are also increasingly being diagnosed in the younger adult population in the recent years.(2,4-6,8) Such trends will result in greater financial costs for the nation and the individual, and our current healthcare system may not remain sustainable if we continue to invest in and develop what had served us well in the past five decades.(1).