| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE: As Singapore's population ages, end-of-life care is going to receive more attention.
Also, major legislative changes are expected in the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) next year.
The shady business of organ trading surfaced when Singapore retail magnate Tang Wee Sung was jailed for offering to buy a kidney.
The case raised much public debate as over a thousand people in Singapore face organ failure every year.
Finally in November, it was confirmed that the law would be changed to allow living donors to be compensated, making Singapore one of the first countries in the world to do so.
A committee will be set up next year to determine the compensation amount, once the laws are changed following public consultation.
But this move underlies a larger problem - that of a rapidly ageing population confronting diseases like organ failure, cancer and heart problems.
So in October, the Health Ministry broke the silence on planning for death.
In 2009, it will actively promote the Advance Medical Directive - a legislation implemented 11 years ago that allows a person to decline external life-sustaining treatment in the event of terminal illness.
Surveys show most people want to die at home.
But doing that right now is hard because of the pain caused by the lack of home palliative care.
So hospices will receive more funding and nursing homes will have guidelines to improve end-of-life care.
Halimah Yacob, chairperson of the Government Parliamentary Committee on Health, said: "There is already some form of home service palliative care that is provided by VWOs, by hospices also. But, I suppose the challenge is how to expand that, because right now if you look at the numbers, there are a lot more people who choose to die in hospitals rather than at home.. because....the support structure is not there. So, one has to look at how to better provide the support structure at home."
Other health news making headlines in 2008 - mosquito-borne chikungunya, which has symptoms similar to dengue.
When it first appeared in Singapore in 2006, there were three cases.
Two year later, there are about 600.
The fear is that it will become endemic, like dengue which infects thousands of people here every year.
Another infectious disease of concern - Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease.
It affected over 28,000, mostly children, and claimed the life of a three-year-old boy in August.
Among the different infectious diseases, the most deadly is HIV and the infection numbers are likely to hit a record high as more people come forward for testing.
Four more private clinics have been added to the current list of anonymous HIV testing clinics.
By January 2009, HIV testing is going to be an opt-out scheme in all public hospitals.
As infection rates climb, the Health Ministry said for the first time that it was considering if anti-retroviral drugs ought to be subsidised.
And, as the economy worsens, healthcare subsidies will be a major concern, particularly since means testing will be implemented in 2009.
- CNA/ir
|
