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SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Health (MOH) is rolling out a slew of programmes to nip health problems in the bud.
One way is to expand the current Integrated Screening Programme that was introduced in June 2008.
Currently, five conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity are covered under the programme.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health Hawazi Daipi said this will be expanded to include colorectal cancer screening.
He said: "Colorectal cancer is the most common cancer here: 1,500 Singaporeans become afflicted with this disease annually. Over the course of a lifetime, one in every 20 men and one in every 30 women will get colorectal cancer."
The government is also looking at tackling cervical cancer through vaccination against the human papillomavirus or HPV.
But Mr Hawazi said the Expert Committee on Immunisation is still studying the feasibility of doing so.
He added that the ministry will further advocate healthy lifestyles at workplace, as two out of three Singaporeans aged 15 and above are working.
Mr Hawazi said the Health Promotion Board (HPB) will include more locations under its Doorstep Programme, which brings health screening for SME employees to their workplace.
HPB will also introduce a workplace health package this month, where pre-selected vendors deliver the packages which include interventions and screenings.
The package is expected to cover four key areas including healthy eating and smoking control. All companies have to do is choose their preferred activities among the four given.
Mr Hawazi added that HPB understands that work demands of each sector are different, so it intends to customise programmes for selected industries.
He said: "Some sectors like hospitality, wholesale and retail, and transport & logistics, face greater challenges in implementing workplace health initiatives.
"For example, in the hospitality sector, it is hard to get service staff who work different shifts to get together and exercise, especially those who work the night shift. To address this, HPB and its partners will be adopting a more customised approach by tailoring outreach activities and capacity building sessions tailored for specific industries."
To step up efforts to encourage smokers to stub out, the ministry intends to update the Smoking (Control of Advertisement and Sale of Tobacco) Act. The Act was last amended in 2003 and latest proposed changes include banning misleading labelling as well as lowering the maximum tar and nicotine limits.
On this year's National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign, Mr Hawazi said the focus is obesity and the government will come up with a weight loss reality TV challenge show to tackle the problem.
Mr Hawazi added that food advertising is a problem and MOH is taking steps to address this.
He said: "HPB is developing guidelines on food marketing to children in schools and will continue health education efforts in the school setting. HPB will also work with MOE to instil a culture of physical activity amongst our young, so as to build lifelong habits for a healthy lifestyle."
Right now, three in 10 adults in Singapore exceed the recommended daily intake of harmful trans fats. Of these people, two in three are younger adults aged 18 to 39.
To cut down on intake, the government will also take steps to limit trans fat content in fats and oils to not more than 2 grammes of trans fat per 100 grammes of product. Mr Hawazi said this is in line with the World Health Organisation's recommendations.
- 938LIVE/ir
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