Opening Ceremony Of The HOSPIMedica Asia 2004

15 Sep 2004

By Dr Balaji Sadasivan, Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts and Health

Venue: Suntec City

Speech By Senior Minister Of State, Information, Communications And The Arts And Health At The Joint Opening Ceremony Of The HOSPIMedica Asia 2004 5th International Exhibition On Hospital, Pharmaceutical, Medical & Rehabilitation Equipment & Supplies, The HOSPIMedica Asia Medical Conference On Cancer yyy Treatment Update, And The OS+H Asia 2004 4th Occupational Safety+Health Exhibition For Asia On Wed., 15 September 2004 At 10.25 A.M. At Suntec City

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen

It is my pleasure to be here with you this morning at the Joint Opening Ceremony of the HOSPIMedica ASIA 2004 5th International Exhibition on Hospital, Pharmaceutical, Medical & Rehabilitation Equipment & Supplies, the HOSPIMedica ASIA Medical Conference on Cancer yyy Treatment Update, and the OS+H Asia 2004 4th Occupational Safety+Health Exhibition for Asia.

The hosting of these three simultaneous events in Singapore adds value to the medical and healthcare industry by providing useful and convenient updates on the state-of-the-art technology in healthcare and safety. I hope many will take this opportunity to interact with the exhibitors, and products and services providers to develop ideas and leverage on the innovations in medical and healthcare equipment and services. Our local healthcare industry must become ever more responsive and forward-looking. Learning about the leading technologies helps our medical and healthcare professionals to find solutions in their respective areas of specialization.

This morning, I would like to take a little time to share with you on the latest developments in two important safety areas. The first is in the area of occupational health involving workers' safety, and the second, in the area of public health involving biological safety or bio-safety.

The first area, occupational health and safety, deals with the promotion and maintenance of the physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations. Specialists in this field advise on planning and organization of work and working practices in the workplace in order to safeguard health. Their work includes the design of work-places, and the evaluation, choice and maintenance of equipment and substances used at work. It also requires a systematic approach to the analysis of occupational accidents and occupational diseases.

Occupational safety standards in Singapore have been steadily improving over the years. The overall number of accidents for all industries has fallen steadily from 4,422 cases in 1997 to 3,179 cases in 2003. We are also seeing a low incidence of occupation-related diseases in Singapore. In 2003, there were 496 reported cases of occupational disease, giving an incidence rate of 2.4 per 10,000 employed persons. The three main occupational diseases were noise-induced deafness, industrial dermatitis and infectious disease.

To safeguard occupational safety and health, doctors from the Ministry of Manpower conduct joint specialist clinics at various Ministry of Health hospitals and polyclinics. All notifications of occupational diseases under the law are investigated. If needed, preventive measures are recommended to the employee and the company. My Ministryyyys Health Promotion Board also works closely with the Ministry of Manpower and industries to implement Workplace Health Promotion Programmes.

The second area, bio-safety, deals with the prevention of infectious disease caused by biological agents in specific settings. Learning from the laboratory-acquired SARS incident last year, we have reviewed our practices and are now building a more effective system to handle biological agents safely. There will be full compliance with appropriate international standards of bio-safety by all persons and facilities involved in the entire chain of activities ranging from the import, transport, transfer, and storage to the handling, export and disposal of biological agents.

As the lead agency for bio-safety, Ministry of Health has formed a National Biosafety Committee comprising representatives from key Ministries and agencies that will partner the ministry in implementing our national bio-safety framework. Singapore will adopt a set of bio-safety standards based upon international models. We have established a list of high-risk organisms that should be tightly controlled and handled only in approved facilities. The Ministry of Health is also defining the training requirements for those working with biological agents.

To close the existing gaps in our current system for handling biological agents, my Ministry is actively working to enact the legislative changes that mandate the implementation of these new bio-safety standards. This initiative is necessary and addresses the bio-safety concerns arising from the phenomenal growth of the life sciences sector today.

Having proper control programmes for occupational safety and bio-safety will not only safeguard public health and protect our workers, but also signal to the world that we are serious in meeting all possible health challenges as we grow our biomedical, life sciences and healthcare sectors.

Singapore aspires to be a regional Medical Hub and we have launched "SingaporeMedicine" to promote Medical Tourism. By increasing the number of foreign patient visitors to one million a year by the year 2012, we can expect a contribution of S$2.6 billion of value add to Singapore's GDP. Patients will come to Singapore if we can provide safe and cost-effective healthcare with the latest technology. Hence, exhibitions like today's which showcases the latest state of the art technology are of great importance to decision makers in the Healthcare sector who need to decide what technology they need to purchase in order to be at the cutting edge.

I am pleased to note the presence of some 320 exhibitors from over 30 countries at the HOSPIMedica ASIA 2004 while at the OS+H Asia 2004, there are some 100 exhibitors from 15 countries. This sizeable representation augurs well for the growth of the medical and healthcare industry in Singapore.

In conclusion, you have here all the ingredients for success. I wish you a fruitful conference and exhibition. It is now my pleasure to declare the HOSPIMedica ASIA 2004 5th International Exhibition on Hospital, Pharmaceutical, Medical & Rehabilitation Equipment & Supplies, the HOSPIMedica ASIA Medical Conference on Cancer yyy Treatment Update, and the OS+H Asia 2004 4th Occupational Safety+Health Exhibition for Asia open. Thank you.