REMARKS BY MR ONG YE KUNG, MINISTER FOR HEALTH, AT THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING SIGNING CEREMONY HOSTED BY TEMASEK FOUNDATION, 16 AUGUST 2024, 8.00 AM AT THE GRAND HYATT HOTEL, MANILA, THE PHILIPPINES

Ms Lani Cayetano, Mayor of Taguig City 

Mr Nonoy Colayco, Chairman, Carespan Asia

Ms Jennie Chua, Chairman, Board Member of Temasek Foundation 

Ladies and gentlemen

     Good morning and thank you for having me at today’s event. 

2.  Last month, Singapore celebrated Nurses’ Day. I was at the celebration of SingHealth – one of our healthcare clusters. They launched an interesting initative called the Centre for Global Nursing. As you know in Singapore, the locals account for the majority of our nursing workforce. But we also have nurses from different parts of the world, including the Philippines. Many of our nurses, having accomplished something in their career, have a desire to go out to the region to help out. SingHealth saw this demand from our nursing workforce and started the centre to come up with collaborative programmes with other health systems in the region. Our nurses attend these overseas programmes, exposing themselves to the health systems of other countries in the region – different population segments, different landscape, different kinds of care treatments. They go on overseas humanitarian missions and learn about how other countries go about operating their healthcare system and taking care of the health of the population. It is a very meaningful initiative. 

3.   I have been travelling a lot this month. Last week, I attended the ASEAN Health Ministers’ Meeting, held in Vientiane, Laos. I was there for a two-day meeting and while I was there, I also took the opportunity to open one of our centres in Vientiane, which is also an interesting initiative. The National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health has a collaboration with its sister institute in Laos and together set up a joint research centre. They picked Laos because they felt that they can achieve a greater impact in public health. So together with the local researchers, they looked into areas where there is a public health gap, and then published reports make sure that the Ministry of Health in Laos is better informed of what is required.

4.   Yesterday, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between myself and the Secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers, Mr Hans Cacdac. This MOU on recruitment of Fillipino nurses to Singapore, and also for Singapore to take good care of their welfare and develop them. Over time, we feel that this workforce can come back and reintegrate into the Philippines healthcare system. Some may stay in Singapore, others may go to other places around the world, contributing to different healthcare systems around the world. I think it is win-win-win for everybody. 

5.   I tell these stories because I think there is always a desire amongst healthcare professionals to go beyond where we are domestically and out to the region, so that the contribution goes beyond our physical geographical borders. And this, I think, is the spirit of healthcare – always wanting to help, and never confining yourself to just the population before you. Although I must say, while the hospital patient load is high, , it does not stop the healthcare workers in Singapore from expressing this spirit. 

6.   Today we are focusing on another interesting and meaningful initative. We are signing three MOUs this morning. I will not repeat them but it is between a few parties – Taguig City, Temasek Foundation, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and Carespan Asia. It is an interesting initiative as it involves many partners from the public, private as well as philantrophic sectors coming together to improve healthcare. So let me go through each of their roles, as each of them plays an important role. 

7.   First, the Taguig City and Barangay Health Centres will share their understanding and insights into local needs. With a 1.2 million population, there is great disparity. I can imagine how challenging that would be, and in that way your partners can design targeted and effective health interventions. The City and Health Centres would also work closely with PhilHealth to translate policy into programme implementation. Very importantly, they will help secure funding for all the initiatives.

8.   Second, the private sector. We have Carespan Asia which will implement the digital health platform in the Barangay Health Centres, allowing patients to access telehealth, and set up and maintain electronic health records. This represents a significant improvement in accessibility to government doctors and healthcare, albeit digitally. But in a country like the Philippines, geography is always a challenge. To use technology to the fullest, I think it is a great idea, and a great link ahead in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare. 

9.   Third, the philanthropic sector. Gawad Kalinga’s network of volunteers engage the community and encourage them to enroll in universal healthcare. Enrolment is extremely important, because once you enrol, especially for primary care, you start to develop a relationship between patient and doctor, and that is the foundation of good healthcare. Temasek Foundation’s contribution will be used to support this pilot project.  Over time, with economies of scale, we all hope the system will be financially sustainable. 

10.   I talked about the three ‘P’s, which are the public, private and philanthropic sectors. There is a fourth “P” that we should emphasise, and that is the ‘patients’, ourselves as individuals, and that is critical to ensure the partnership’s success. 

11.   Enrolment is only the first step.  Patients must take care of our own health. We must exercise responsibility. The biggest stakeholder in our health must be ourselves. It cannot be the Mayor, the government, the donor, and sometimes not even the doctor, but it has to be ourselves. But we will do so with the help of all partners, especially our primary care doctor. We need to motivate people we take care of themselves and practise healthy living. So if you smoke, quit smoking and if you take too much sugar, cut down on sugar. If you are not walking or exercising enough, do more.  You will never regret it. It only takes one month to inculcate the habit. Others cannot do this for us, and we must be responsible for our own health. 

12.   Underlying the universal healthcare system that the Philippines is building, are really relationships – between the partners of the public, private and philanthropic sectors. They come together and achieve something meaningful for the people we serve. Patients and doctors need to nurture strong relationships. A close and trusted relationship between a patient and a primary care doctor is the most important determinant in the quality of health outcomes.

13.   Improving healthcare is probably one of the best things to do for our people. I say that as a Minister for Health, and everyone in public service will know that delivering good healthcare is one of the most difficult things to do for our people. It helps the young develop healthily to their full potential, alleviates suffering, prevents diseases, cares for the old and the frail, and improves the lives of all. So let us continue to work together to improve health for everybody. Thank you very much.