Speech by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health, at the Biology of Ageing Conference, 22 October 2015

Mr Lim Chuan Poh, A*STAR Chairman

Associate Professor Yeoh Khay Guan, Deputy Chief Executive (Academic Enterprise), NUHS and Dean NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

Distinguished speakers

Ladies and gentlemen

            Good evening. It gives me great pleasure to join you this evening at the Biology of Ageing conference, organised by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the National University Health System (NUHS). I am delighted to welcome our overseas friends and distinguished speakers to Singapore.

AN AGEING POPULATION

2.         Singapore is celebrating our its golden jubilee this year. We have achieved growth and development as a nation in this short span of 50 years. Singaporeans are now also living longer. In 1965, our average life expectancy was only 65 years old. Today, Singapore has one of the highest average life expectancy in the world at 83 years.

3.         Because of rising longevity and lower fertility, Singapore's population will age quite rapidly. Our proportion of residents aged 65 years and above will double from 7% in 2000 to 14% by 2020. By 2030, about one in five Singapore residents will be above the age of 65.

4.         In Singapore, we do not see population ageing as a mere problem. It is not all gloom and doom. If we can leverage the productive energies of a population with longer lives, we can live fuller and more meaningful lives as individuals and older citizens can continue to propel the nation's development.

5.       Therefore, in August this year, the government introduced a $3 BN action plan to help Singapore and Singaporeans exploit the opportunities from longevity and achieve successful ageing. Covering 60 initiatives across 12 areas, the action plan has three objectives. First, it seeks to enable individuals to exploit the opportunities from longevity. The action plan contains initiatives to enable older Singaporeans to work longer, to continue learning and to stay healthy for longer. Second, the action plan aims to create an inclusive community in Singapore with inter-generational harmony. We want to bring the public, private and people sectors together to honour and respect our seniors, and create a supportive environment for our seniors. Third, we want to create a city for all ages, where seniors can age confidently and gracefully in place.

TRANSFORMING THE EXPERIENCE OF AGEING

7.         Research and innovation will be a key enabler to help Singapore achieve successful ageing. We can leverage on research and innovation to positively transform the experience of ageing and unleash the potential from our ever increasing longevity.

8.         In the area of health, research and technology can be a game changer if we can find new ways to extend the "health span" of our population in tandem with or even faster than the rate of increase in our life span. On the other hand, research and technology can help us find new ways of providing care more effectively, with better quality of life.

9.         A key initiative under the Action Plan for Successful Ageing is the introduction of a National Innovation Challenge (NIC) on Active and Confident Ageing. This NIC aims to better support and catalyse innovative ideas and research in Singapore and meaningfully translate these ideas into practical solutions.

10.      This NIC will focus on three main research areas. First, we want to lengthen the “health span” of Singaporeans by finding better ways of delaying the onset of disease and disability so that our seniors can continue to lead economically and socially active lives. Second, we want to facilitate research and innovation that can enable "ageless workplaces", so that we can unlock the talent, energies and productivity in longevity, for the benefit of individuals, society and our nation. Third, we want to leverage on research in science and technology to help seniors age in place and live independently despite physical frailty.

11.       The NIC's focus will be on translational research that is multi-disciplinary in approach. Our first grant call under this NIC was launched in late August this year. The Care At Home Innovation Grant aims to improve productivity of home care, while ensuring good quality, client-centric and responsive care. Since its launch, we have held public briefings and industry networking sessions to partner home care providers with technological solution providers to co-create solutions that can improve home care. Over 200 representatives from solutions providers and health or social care providers attended these events.

12.       I am pleased to share that MOH will launch the second grant call on Cognition under this NIC in November this year. The aim of the grant call on Cognition is two-fold. First, we want to see translational research and innovations that could improve cognitive functioning and delay the onset of dementia in older adults. Second, we want to look into new models of care that will provide quality and cost-effective care for seniors with dementia in the community. This NIC will complement our research efforts and investments in biomedical sciences. It will drive the translation of research to lengthen the ‘health span’ of Singaporeans and transform the way we deliver care today.

FOCUSING ON TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH

13.       The approach taken under the NIC on Ageing reflects our larger shift towards translational research in our journey in biomedical sciences research. Since the successful launch of Phase 1 of our Biomedical Sciences (BMS) initiative in 2000, we have built upon our expertise in basic biomedical research and shifted our focus to translational and clinical research in Phase 2 of the BMS initiative between 2006 and 2010. We further strengthened and consolidated our efforts between 2011 and 2015 through collaborative research between the basic and clinical community, as well as with the industry.

14.       I am thus encouraged by the theme of this conference - ‘Senescence, Regulation and Intervention’, which mirrors our research journey thus far. This theme captures the aspiration to translate basic science research into useful interventions that can be implemented on the ground to further improve our ‘health span’.

15.       I am confident that the research community will rise up to the challenge in finding answers to positively transform the experience of ageing here. Together, we can help Singaporeans age in place and make Singapore truly a Nation for All Ages.

16.            In closing, I would like to thank A*STAR’s Singapore Immunology Network, the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences and NUHS for putting together this important conference. I trust the discussions over this 3-day conference will advance our knowledge of human ageing and age-associated diseases and lead to fruitful interventions and programmes that will benefit ageing societies. Have a fruitful conference. Thank you.