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BETTER CONTROL: New labs for researchers and regular courses are on the cards. -- ST FILE PHOTO
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THE next phase in Singapore's war against new and existing infectious diseases is on the drawing board.
The tracking and treating of and research into these scourges, along with the training of health-care workers in the field, will be integrated under one roof, said Associate Professor Leo Yee Sin, clinical director of the Communicable Disease Centre (CDC).
Plans are being drawn up for all these functions to be housed in a complex that will replace the century-old CDC premises in Moulmein Road.
The new complex will probably be linked to the newer CDC2 building, which opened at the time of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in 2003. This will put it next to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, round the corner from the CDC's current site.
Planning for the new complex is still 'at an early, paper-planning stage', Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan told The Straits Times.
'After Sars, we know that we need to invest more in the area of infectious diseases...How exactly to do so is not straightforward, as this is an evolving field,' he said.
His ministry and hospital officials are therefore taking their time to study the issues and to consult local and international experts.
In any case, the current construction boom here is putting Mr Khaw off building the place now, as costs would be higher.
He is projecting for work to begin in 2010. Till then, the ministry will focus on training more doctors to deal with infectious diseases, he said.
While the details are still on the drawing board, the planners already know broadly how the Government wants to meet the threat that infectious diseases pose.
Some of the Health Ministry's public health officers, who monitor trends in infectious diseases, investigate outbreaks and design policies to control them, now work out of the ministry headquarters near Singapore General Hospital.
In future, they will move into the complex to be with the clinicians, thus improving coordination between them, especially during emergencies, Prof Leo said.
Facilities for patients, including isolation rooms, will be improved from what they are now.
Those doing research into new scourges can also expect to work out of cutting-edge laboratories, so Singapore can deepen knowledge on diseases that are endemic here, as well as new ones that may pop up.
Finally, regular structured courses on infectious diseases will be held for health-care workers, a step-up from the ad hoc lectures now delivered by the CDC's infectious-disease specialists.
The current CDC, a cluster of single-storey pre-war buildings, handled more than 13,400 outpatient visits and more than 1,800 hospitalisation cases last year.
Run by eight specialists, 12 other doctors and about 170 health-care workers and administrators, it is showing its age.
The electrical wiring was not designed for the loads generated by modern equipment, and termites are chewing up the woodwork.
Diseases which have emerged in recent years - such as the Nipah virus, Sars and bird flu - have threatened to kill thousands of people and cripple the economy.
Sars, for example, hit 238 people and killed 33 here in just two months. It is also estimated to have cost the nation US$1.5 billion (S$2.17 billion).
Worldwide, more than 8,000 people were infected, and about 800 died. East Asia, which bore the brunt of the epidemic, racked up US$18 billion in losses.
huichieh@sph.com.sg
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