Singapore Government Press Release
Media Division, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts,
MITA Building, 140 Hill Street, 2nd Storey, Singapore 179369
Tel: 837-9666

Mr Tan Tee How, Chief Executive Officer, National Healthcare Group

Dr Lim Suet Wun, Chief Executive Officer, Tan Tock Seng Hospital;

Clinical Professor Chee Yam Cheng, Chairman, Medical Board, Tan Tock Seng Hospital;

Ladies and Gentlemen

It is my pleasure to be here this morning for the opening of the LASIK Centre at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

There are too many children in Singapore wearing glasses because of short-sightedness. My ministry is greatly concerned by the problem of short-sightedness or to use the medical term – myopia. Among NSmen, the prevalence of myopia has increased from 26% in the late 1970s to 83% in the late 1990s. For schoolchildren, among 10 year olds the prevalence has increased from 25% in 1980s to about 40% in 1999. The onset of myopia in Singapore is at an increasingly young age and the prevalence of myopia is increasing. In fact, Singapore has one of the highest prevalence of myopia in the world.

Although the underlying causes of myopia have not been fully defined, it is widely accepted that both genetic and environmental factors are involved. In view of the trend and severity of myopia, a National Myopia Prevention Programme (NMPP) was formulated.

In August 2001, the Health Promotion Board, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health launched the NMPP. The strategies under NMPP include primary, secondary and tertiary prevention measures. The measures under the programme emphasize :-

1. general education to the public and targeted education to children, parents, teachers and patients on eyecare and prevention of progression of myopia,
2. collaboration with Ministry of Education for screening and education, and on the provision of optimal lighting in schools and the adoption of guidelines limiting the amount of continuous nearwork for students,
3. screening to detect defective vision early for early intervention and to prevent amblyopia,
4. setup of a myopia registry to allow tracking and appropriate follow-up of screened patients, and
5. continuing research on myopia.

In the polyclinics, children who attend development screening at 4 years age are screened for visual acuity, squint and amblyopia. This will be in addition to the existing programme whereby all school children from primary 1 to seconday 5 have their visual acuity tested annually. Screening teams will visit kindergartens and childcare centres to screen the preschoolers. Children with defective visual acuity will be referred for further evaluation at refraction clinics or the ophthalmologist.

Education programmes have been stepped up. The importance of controlling the amount and duration of near work, rest for the eyes and good lighting are being reinforced.

The Singapore Myopia Registry is a national myopia registry that will collect and provide information on myopia for the purpose of health planning, clinical quality assurance, benchmarking and clinical research. The Registry will support the NMPP by providing relevant information and assist in the tracking of school children with poor or rapidly deteriorating visual acuity.

As myopia cannot be reversed, the focus of myopia management in children is that of prevention and arresting the progress, through sensible limitations on nearwork and the adoption of optimal lighting.

For adults who have myopia, the traditional and time-tested method for the correction of myopia and other refractive errors is the use of spectacles or contact lenses. With progress in medical technology and skills, patients have the option of undergoing LASIK surgery. At Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the demand for LASIK service has increased over the last 3 years. To serve patients better, this LASIK centre has been set up. It provides a one stop care for patients, with pre and post operative management and operations all in the same centre.

Improvements in healthcare like the availability of LASIK treatment and increases in demand for healthcare have created a need for more healthcare workers. We have many retrenched workers in Singapore who could become healthcare workers if they are retrained. I commend Tan Tock Seng Hospital for its support of our national efforts to retrain workers. I commend both the National Healthcare Group and Singapore Health Services for working with NTUC and the Institute of Technical Education to make training for nursing support jobs more accessible to Singaporeans. The training programmes for healthcare assistants, clinic assistants and health attendants, which will be conducted under the Skills Redevelopment Programme where the trainees can train and get an allowance at the same time, are now available in many healthcare institutions, including Tan Tock Seng Hospital. We hope that more workers will take up the training and take up employment in our developing healthcare sector. Singaporeans who are interested in the programmes can sign up with NTUC and other self help groups.

In conclusion, myopia is an important problem in Singapore. We have taken steps to deal with it from various angles. We need to continue to monitor the prevalence, and the effectiveness of the measures taken and the outcomes. We must continue to acquire and offer the best treatment options for our patients. For new techniques like LASIK, care must also be taken to monitor the outcome to ensure good results for our patients.

It is now my pleasure to declare the Tan Tock Seng Hospital LASIK Centre open.

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