Singapore Government Press Release

Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts,

36th Storey, PSA Building, 460 Alexandra Road, Singapore 119963.

Tel: 3757794/5

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Ladies and gentlemen,
 

A very good evening to you all. It is appropriate to launch this year's National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign by first reviewing the progress we have achieved so far.
 

The 1998 National Health Survey found that after 7 years of effort, the percentage of Singaporeans who exercise regularly has risen from 13.6% in 1992 to 16.8% in 1998, while the proportion of smokers has dropped from 18.3% to 15%. The gains are small, but they are encouraging. People's lifestyle and habits are difficult to change, but we have made progress.
 

Healthier Options
 

Another survey, the 1998 National Nutrition Survey, showed that Singaporeans are now more aware of the need for a healthy diet. Nearly 58% of Singaporeans now make a conscious effort to consume less fatty food, sugar and red meat, compared to 28% in a similar survey in 1993. But the 1998 survey also found that a high proportion of the working population still eat out at hawker centres and workplace canteens. This underlines the need for foodstall operators to serve healthier dishes.
 

Because of this, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has made efforts to influence cooking practices not just in the homes but also in hawker centres, workplace canteens and restaurants. 140 hawker centres and over 80 eating establishments throughout Singapore, including many of Singapore's better known restaurants, are offering healthier dishes during this month-long National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign.
 

I urge all lovers of good food - in other words, all true Singaporeans - to support these efforts. With a healthier diet, we can live longer to enjoy the excellent range of food in Singapore.
 

We have to press on with our Healthy Lifestyle Campaign. Notwithstanding the improvement in our smoking and exercise rates, the 1998 National Health Survey showed that the rates of high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol have increased over the past six years. To drive the campaign home, MOH has extended its health promotion efforts to the workplace. This is where nearly two-thirds of Singaporeans over the age of 15 spend most of their waking hours.
 

ACTIVE Day
 

MOH has introduced an ACTIVE Day, the acronym for All Companies Together In Various Exercises. The idea is to emphasize the need to exercise, not only during our leisure time or at some special environment, like the gym, but even in the workplace. In fact, health promotion at the workplace makes it easier to incorporate healthy habits into our daily routine. Encouragement from colleagues and support from the management will help us to sustain our habit of exercising regularly.
 

Workplace Health Promotion
 

At present, only one-third of companies has comprehensive workplace health promotion programmes. MOH’s target is to increase the number of workplaces with such programmes to half by the year 2003.
 

Employers may ask, "What's in it for me?" Well, experience from around the world has shown that health programmes help to control medical costs, improve productivity, reduce absenteeism and heighten staff morale. These benefits have been demonstrated in Singapore too. For example, the National Library Board (NLB) has developed an excellent workplace health promotion programme. In just two years from 1996 to 1998, the NLB saw its average annual sick leave per staff member fall from 6.6 days to 5.8 days. Its average medical cost has also dropped, from $200 to $113 per staff member. This is less than a quarter of the 1996 national average health care cost of $471 per employee. NLB has also reported improved social interaction and staff morale leading to better work performance and productivity.
 

The Civil Service is expanding its workplace health promotion by establishing the PS21 Healthy Lifestyle Programme. Next time when you see civil servants in exercise attire during office hours, do not think that they are not working hard enough.
 

We would now like to work with the private sector, both employers and workers, to promote healthy lifestyle.
 

The Tripartite Committee
 

I am, therefore, pleased to announce the formation of a Tripartite Committee that will take health promotion at the workplace to a higher plane. This Committee is chaired by the President of the Singapore National Employers Federation. It includes representation from the NTUC, private sector companies and the Government. Pooling the strengths of these parties will create far better programmes and much wider outreach than can be managed by any of these groups working in isolation. MOH will provide a wide range of assistance, including consultancy, training and materials support.
 

I would like the new Committee to get more SMEs to adopt these programmes. Most workplaces with 500 or more employees have comprehensive health promotion programmes. But only a small number of workplaces with less than 100 employees have such programmes. I understand the difficulties the smaller companies face in providing such programmes. Let us find a solution to their constraints.
 

The H.E.A.L.T.H. Awards
 

I am pleased that many companies and organisations have already responded to our call to establish health promotion programmes in their workplaces. Tonight, we recognise the best among them. We shall celebrate their achievements by presenting to them the inaugural awards for Helping Employees Achieve Life-Time Health (H.E.A.L.T.H.). A total of 132 organisations – 68 from the public sector and 64 from the private – have been selected based on a rigorous set of criteria that assesses, among other things, the level of employee participation, management commitment, planning efficiency and programme sustainability.
 

I offer my heartiest congratulations to the award recipients. To all other workplaces, especially those who have yet to make health promotion a part of their organisational culture, remember that a good workplace health promotion programme is a sound investment in your workers. People are our most valuable assets. In fact, they are the only natural resource we have. We are spending billions of dollars educating them, training and retraining them. We want them to be fit and healthy.
 

It gives me great pleasure to be here tonight to present the H.E.A.L.T.H. Awards and to launch the 1999 National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign.