SPEECH BY PROFESSOR KENNETH MAK, DIRECTOR–GENERAL OF HEALTH, MINISTRY OF HEALTH, AT THE NATIONAL INJURY PREVENTION CONFERENCE

Professor Yeoh Khay Guan, Chief Executive, National University Health System

Clinical Professor Ng Kee Chong, Chief Executive, Changi General Hospital

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

1. A very good morning to all of you. It is my pleasure to join you at the inaugural National Injury Prevention Conference organised by the National University Centre for Trauma and KKH Injury Prevention Working Group. This is particularly, a meaningful occasion for me because many of you know I am a surgeon as a background, and I trained both in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery but I had a hand in trauma surgery as well, being involved in the National Trauma Committee. As Dr Raj Menon alluded to, we put in place our national standards for trauma care in all acute hospitals. When Raj came to me and asked whether or not it was meaningful to organise the inaugural National Injury Prevention Conference, he had my full support. This is testament, today, we are sitting here in this hall at the opening ceremony for what will be an annual event, a meaningful event, an educational event, and one, I think which will be instrumental in creating success, as we build a stronger coalition towards injury prevention and better trauma care.

Trauma Trends in Singapore

2. In Singapore, trauma is among the top 10 causes of death from 2021 to 2023, accounting for about 2% of all deaths. Based on data from the National Trauma Registry, which collates data on trauma injuries managed at all our public acute hospitals, the incidence of moderate and severe trauma injuries has risen from 148 cases per 100,000 population in 2021, to 166 cases per 100,000 population in 2023. This is a statistic that I am not happy about.

3. Falls and vehicular accidents were the two most common causes of moderate and severe trauma injuries for both adults and children. Among the cases that hospitals see, 5% were moderate and severe trauma work related injuries.

Injury Prevention Efforts

4. Trauma injuries can occur to individuals across all age groups, and in multiple settings – at workplaces, on the roads and even within our home. But trauma injuries are almost always preventable. The data from the National Trauma Registry gives us insights on trends, such as on incidence of trauma injuries, where trauma injuries frequently occur, and their causes. The data is shared with our public healthcare institutions and various government agencies, including the Ministry of Manpower and the Land Transport Authority, to enhance efforts in improving trauma care and injury prevention.

5. We have introduced new injury prevention initiatives over the years. At the national level, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has introduced various initiatives to support seniors in reducing their risk of falls, under the ambit of ‘Live Well, Age Well’, a holistic health and wellness programme to improve seniors’ health. The initiatives include weekly group exercises and interactive health workshops conducted in the community. HPB has also collaborated with the allied health team from Tan Tock Seng Hospital to develop and implement ‘Steady Lah!’, an initiative to help seniors at risk of frailty improve their muscle strength and functional mobility. Participants also learn about fall recovery techniques to minimise injuries and call for help, should a fall occur.

6. The public healthcare institutions have also worked hard in their efforts towards injury prevention through various initiatives and programmes. For example, since 2022, the KKH Injury Prevention Working Group has been publishing the KKH Child Injury Surveillance Report, and convening the annual KKH Child Injury Prevention Stakeholder Meeting to engage stakeholders to share perspectives and collaborate on injury prevention initiatives. KKH has also collaborated with HPB to produce educational infographics for parents and run road safety and accident prevention awareness campaigns with the Traffic Police and SBS Transit. Recently, KKH has started providing parents a one-year complimentary loan of car seats for babies born at the hospital.

7. Last year, NUH launched the National University Centre for Trauma, and since then, the Centre has been engaging with the community regularly to educate and raise safety awareness among children through primary schools, partnering with charity organisations to engage migrant workers on pertinent topics such as spinal care management, haemorrhage control and first aid techniques for severe injuries, and collaborating with grassroots to reach out to the elderly.

8. National Healthcare Group’s Central Region Trauma Services (CRTS) regularly engages schools and parent volunteers through injury prevention booths, and fall prevention workshops for seniors and their caregivers. Last year, CRTS organised its first workplace injury management event, bringing together government stakeholders like the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Ministry of Manpower, hospitals’ trauma teams, and industry partners to enhance safety officers’ emergency response capabilities.

Closing

9. So even as there are ongoing efforts on injury prevention, we can continue to do more. This Conference brings together various stakeholders to better understand trauma trends and to reduce the incidence of trauma injuries. Ultimately, we seek to improve safety in the areas of paediatric, workplace and road safety at this conference. With sharing of knowledge and best practices and through partnerships, we can all prevent injuries.

10. I would like to encourage all of you to participate in the focus group sessions later, to exchange insights and to collect constructive views to strengthen our preventive measures and achieve better outcomes. I wish everyone a productive and insightful conference. Thank you.