print this page close this page
Singapore's Experiences and Efforts in Combating Diseases

Here’s a look at the public health and general well being issues in the early days and how, over the years, a combination of public education, vaccination and social support has helped to inform, reassure and protect Singaporeans.

This selection of photos, audiovisual content and oral history excerpts gives you a glimpse into some of the early challenges and how the public healthcare system has since evolved to be able to handle more recent challenges such as SARS.


Oral History Interviews

1. Oral History Interview with Dr Victor Samuel Thevathasan, Former Senior Health Officer at the Public Health Division
Acc No. 2171

Problem of itinerant hawkers and how it was solved

2.Oral History Interview with Lucy Cheng Gueh Eng, Former Director of Nursing at Woodbridge Hospital
Acc No. 1945

Stigma faced by psychiatric nursing, tuberculosis nursing and leprosy nursing, and pride felt working at Woodbridge Hospital

3. Oral History Interview with Dr Andrew Chew Guan Khuan, former Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health
Acc No. 1620

Recognition of tuberculosis management by the Tan Tock Seng Hospital

4. Oral History Interview with Lee Ek Tieng, former Acting Permanent Secretary (Public Health)
Acc No. 2832

How the problem of malaria was solved through environmental checks and case tracing

Audiovisual Recordings

sessionId: C9364BEE2A0CEDFFDF715809ED5A75E2E6E4FD95B15F47EFCDA7162B460569867E6921114405588B38F9E0FC71F96EF22D27CFFA10A3E53F1A0B90BFE7CA8802CFC293019A00307EE4983F90161A6B5F8EB62D6D00DB05C9AE7BD615BB6E903877818F58C3BA85A873001B8225D1A517A774CF480FAE295FDE99E44B26F0505CDFC56E13B12A31CF419535D7396EB26C4CC54BDA8ABD94AA88242ED7AB0398C6
record_field5: NASA2O/content/A2O/e5069892-607d-4b5c-8e9c-727611cc06eb/e5069892-607d-4b5c-8e9c-727611cc06eb.mp4

1. Living With SARS
Acc No. 2008010402
Mediacorp Pte Ltd, courtesy of the National Archives of Singapore

During the SARS pandemic, healthcare workers in Singapore worked tirelessly to ensure each patient is properly cared for.

lky100_enable_captcha set: false
Download Living With SARS's MP4
download flag: false
download url: //www.nlb.gov.sg/staticassets/lky100/videos/Living With SARS Ep 1_16042003_PM28598_2008010402.mp4
sessionId: F755F7BB8A86A534CCB5F25D81631ABAF42ED8815F6594611613F3C52BA7C5448913FD06843910E0522E8B7E2B1ADA54E9A71377DEB6D042D17241178BCF4F76E2266BF1E4A55E98EE007333156AFF9A97D5366B4E3B6AB9C4D816F5EA3659B95560098F6EDCE1615214FEF2FEEE103BEC9619C8885368CBFA7522A98641A2E78814E855D38ED951C5937854F5184E091B9050670F74C6FC19350C49F77AA8A0
record_field5: NASA2O/content/A2O/e89751a0-68be-4a3d-838c-2d040d93e421/e89751a0-68be-4a3d-838c-2d040d93e421.mp4

2. Insight: Lessons From SARS
Acc No. 2008010466
Mediacorp Pte Ltd, courtesy of the National Archives of Singapore

Hospitals and healthcare workers took precautions such as temperature taking of the public going into hospitals and wearing protective gear in order to minimise the spread of SARS.

lky100_enable_captcha set: false
Download Insight: Lessons From SARS's MP4
download flag: false
download url: //www.nlb.gov.sg/staticassets/lky100/videos/Insight_21052003_2008010466.mp4
sessionId: 5F0D42BE20177108A2487C71DDF678B18AF44C297C3A4598361D288E780913D4DF853C0F994848BB8132B2AAD96CB2E73D08580ED79EB573F16DCCE3FEDFD38DC03D9AE52F415822C98DEBBEE2C24D7D352CF89DDD2EFE7632B7536630F9B4D23266EB417101AB45B9876D85E2ED1B7CEFAFC6DC3369FCF14C5326B202934411BB05DF5539C06725701450546A47D1FC0D4C80EB9B879FC419855DAECFB99F87
record_field5: NASA2O/content/A2O/f6832536-d125-47e0-9fd4-fd461858fa20/f6832536-d125-47e0-9fd4-fd461858fa20.mp4

3. Not Just Another Flu Ep 1
Acc No. 2008010187
Mediacorp Pte Ltd, courtesy of the National Archives of Singapore

Everyone in the community has a role to play in minimising the spread of SARS, from healthcare workers, schools to each and every one of us.

lky100_enable_captcha set: false
Download Not Just Another Flu Ep 1's MP4
download flag: false
download url: //www.nlb.gov.sg/staticassets/lky100/videos/Not Just Another Flu 31032003 PM28570_2008010187.mp4

Photographs

Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of the National Archives of Singapore

1. A tubeculosis patient gets his food tonic at the Social Welfare Department.
Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of the National Archives of Singapore

lky100_enable_captcha set: false
Download 's photo
download url: //www.nlb.gov.sg/staticassets/lky100/images/19980000870%20IMG0008.jpg