Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said that the Population White Paper provides his ministry with a "clear parameter" to plan ahead for Singapore's future healthcare needs.

He said that the Health Ministry has already started work on adjusting its existing Healthcare 2020 plan to cater for the scenario where the population grows to 6.9 million in 2030.

Healthcare 2020, which was announced last year, had planned to ramp up infrastructure and manpower. By 2020, 3,700 hospital beds and 20,000 healthcare workers will be added.

Mr Gan said that planning for 6.9 million is just one aspect to consider, the other is the demographic of the population.

He added: "I think all of us know that by 2030 the aging process would have accelerated, We would need to cater to more elderly and we need to reconfigure some of our healthcare services to make sure we are able to meet the demand of an aging population."

Mr Gan was speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by the Chinese Development Assistance Council to recognise the contributions of its partners.