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SINGAPORE: The Health Ministry is injecting S$46 million over the next four years to expand its early intervention services for special needs children.
Most of the money will go towards training and recruitment of manpower, especially psychologists and speech, language and physiotherapists.
The aim is to gear up the system to serve more than 6,000 cases yearly and to bring down waiting times for key services.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health Hawazi Daipi said the healthcare professionals have done good work despite a caseload of some 5,200 patients, including 2,000 new cases a year.
However, certain support services in psychology and speech therapy are stretched as the ministry had only catered for a projected caseload of 3,200 patients and 1,200 new cases.
The projection was based on the global norm just three years ago.
In the public sector, children up to six years old with developmental problems, are diagnosed and go for early intervention under the Child Development Programme.
It caters to those with mild to moderate problems who're likely to enter mainstream schools with extra support.
The programme was started in 1991 and is available at KK Women's and Children's Hospital, National University Hospital and three community-based clinics. - CNA/vm
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