MINISTER FOR HEALTH TO ATTEND THE 10th COMMONWEALTH HEALTH MINISTERS’ MEETING AND THE 68th WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY, 16-20 MAY 2015

            Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong will attend the 10^th Commonwealth Health Ministers’ Meeting (CHMM) followed by the 68^th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, from 16 to 20 May 2015.

2          The theme of the CHMM is on Universal Health Coverage with an emphasis on ageing and good health. Minister will be sharing with other Member States Singapore’s experiences on transforming our aged care and enhancing our universal coverage for citizens through the implementation of MediShield Life.

3          The WHA is the decision-making body of the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is attended by Health Ministers and delegations from 194 WHO Member States. Key public health issues, such as pandemic influenza preparedness and emerging infectious diseases, the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, universal health coverage, as well as health-security related issues, will be brought up for discussion. Other important areas of interest to Singapore include: the progress of the WHO reforms, its priorities in the future and the follow-up on the Ebola outbreak to strengthen global preparedness.

4          Minister will deliver a plenary statement on the WHA theme, “Building Resilient Health Systems” on 18 May 2015. In his speech, he will outline the importance for countries to build a strong foundation to respond to health hazards and emerging threats, and underscore Singapore’s commitment to prepare for future challenges.

5          On 15 May, Minister Gan will also travel to London to have meetings and visits with a UK Academic Health Science Centre/Network to learn about their governance structure and how they partner healthcare and social service providers to provide holistic care to their community.

6          Minister will be accompanied by senior officials from the Ministry of Health.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

14 MAY 2015