MP Lim Wee Kiak urges SAF to review allergy testing policy
Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC Lim Wee Kiak on Monday urged the Ministry of Defence to review their position on allergy testing "seriously" to see if an allergy test for all NSmen could be introduced.
SINGAPORE: Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC Lim Wee Kiak on Monday urged the medical community within Ministry of Defence to review their position on allergy testing "seriously" to see if an allergy test for all NSmen could be introduced.
Dr Lim said that MINDEF currently does not do any allergy testing unless the serviceman declares that he has an existing allergy.
"The problem now is that a lot of allergies may go undetected," Dr Lim said in Parliament on Monday. "Since SAF already knows what NS men are being exposed to, there's a whole range of antigens ... (for which) antigen testing is now possible."
In response, Minister of State for Defence Lawrence Wong said the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF's) approach to allergy testing is in line with established national and international clinical practice guidelines.
"Indeed the medical guidelines do not recommend routine allergy testing in individuals that do not show any symptoms of allergy," Mr Wong said.
"As for your question on whether this system is robust enough today ... I think we (MINDEF) are reviewing that on a regular basis."
"There's also a COI (Committee of Inquiry into the recent deaths of NS men) which is ongoing, and if there are observations made within the COI, pertaining to this particular aspect, certainly we'll improve our system," Mr Wong added.
