Burns Incidence and Prevention

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Tan Wu Meng
MP for Jurong GRC 

Question No. 1691 

To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry monitors the number of young children injured through accidental burns each year; and (b) what measures are being taken to increase awareness among parents and caregivers of burn risks and how to prevent burns in the home. 

Answer

1        The Ministry of Health monitors the number of young children with burn injuries through the National Trauma Registry. The incidence of notified cases of burns in children below the age of 16 years in the period between 2011 and 2015 averaged 70 cases per 100,000 population.  This is about 580 cases per year on average.  Approximately half of the cases occurred among children under the age of 3 years and more than three quarters of the cases occurred at home.  Of the cases occurring at home, half occurred in kitchens.

2        Information on burns prevention are included in the child safety checklist in the Health Promotion Board (HPB)’s Child Health Booklet, which is issued to every child born in Singapore.  In addition, burns prevention and first aid tips for caregivers are available at HPB’s Health Hub. 

3        Hospitals also conduct community education programmes to raise awareness of burns and scalds, which include talks to childcare teachers on child safety, information pamphlets to parents, as well as educational videos which are hosted on their websites or played at hospital clinics. 

4        Parents and caregivers play an important role to take the necessary precautions to protect their children from burns. Most critically, parents should avoid allowing young children in kitchens where the risk of getting burns or scalds are high, due to the presence of hot objects.