Is it a good or bad idea to have a national digital healthcare database?

A healthcare database helps to improve efficiency in managing records across the healthcare system. Patients do not have to wait for records to be transferred across service providers. This database is long overdue and we should trust the agencies to safeguard patients' privacy.

Wilkie Ong Keng Soon

If the medical information is easily accessible, insurers will cherry-pick the best risks, and then only nationalisation will allow ordinary human beings to get decent insurance.

Daniel Chong

Definitely a bad idea. You cannot assume that the systems will always work as planned and that those in charge of them will always be good people, whose interests always coincide with ours.

Kenneth Nyman

I am not against the idea, just that sometimes, such solutions are not fully utilised, or are not used appropriately.

Evon Lim

How should community gardens be run? In what ways do such gardens benefit residents?

The RC must manage and control the garden and gardeners. They must not leave everything on auto-pilot. There are serious legal implications if someone gets sick or hospitalised due to ill-informed advice and herbal medicine.

Sangha Vandana

In the first place, why do you allow herbs to be grown and used without proper supervision by a horticulturist or a licensed traditional medicine practitioner?

It would have been wiser to farm vegetables or fruits, which have more nutritional benefits than these herbs. And no one is going to get hurt or poisoned by these fruits and vegetables.

James RC Ramachandran P

There are herbs that have been used traditionally and handed down from older generations. So long as they have no poisonous effect, they should be accepted.

John NG

Should all health screenings be followed by a medical consultation, even if the test results are normal?

It will be good to have medical consultation after a screening. This will help patients to be better informed about their health and what they should do (or not do) to keep healthy.

Theo De Roza

Health screening without medical consultation is meaningless. The individual needs a doctor to explain the figures. What actions to take to keep healthy? What if the result is bad? Are further tests needed? So, consultation is important for screening to be effective.

Loh Wai Poon

I went for a health screening, which included an ECG. The ECG result was abnormal but the polyclinic doctor could not give a good explanation. She suggested further checks in a hospital.

I went to Changi General Hospital and the ECG result was normal. The specialist suggested a further check-up. I am now waiting to do an echo test which costs $191, to be paid in cash.

My experience has been that consultation after health screening results in more screenings and costs.

James Wang