Building strong links and referral protocols between family physicians and hospitals may be a necessary logistical step in the Healthier SG strategy (More public policies needed to support family doctors in preventive healthcare, May 24).

But the primary objective of preventive healthcare should be to reduce the multiple burdens of non-communicable diseases in the community such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and cancer.

To achieve this, there needs to be a shift in mindset and reorganisation of policies at various levels of medical education and delivery of healthcare. This should involve not only doctors but also the public.

Each year, non-communicable diseases contribute to around 71 per cent of all deaths globally. The Healthier SG strategy is a good and worthwhile move, provided it is done right.

It is widely recognised that lifestyle underlies many of the non-communicable diseases. The logical evolution of lifestyle medicine as an important branch of medicine is fast gaining recognition and pace today. Lifestyle medicine is not just about prevention of diseases, but also about minimising the severity of diseases and their complications.

Most of today's practising doctors, whether family doctors or specialists, have little or patchy knowledge about the various aspects of lifestyle medicine.

Lifestyle factors have a fundamental impact on the development of non-communicable diseases. It is therefore ideal for most, if not all, doctors to have at least a basic knowledge about the association between lifestyle factors and the development and progression of diseases when counselling and managing patients.

Similarly, the public needs to be adequately educated about the close association between lifestyle and non-communicable diseases. They must be receptive, empowered and committed to change their lifestyle to reap the benefits of a healthier way of living.

For the Healthier SG strategy to succeed, one must first identify the fundamentals to set the right goals and move in the right directions.

One timely and essential task is to relook the undergraduate and postgraduate medical curricula, to include various aspects of how to prevent the development and progression of diseases where lifestyle medicine carries the major weight, and the holistic training of family and specialist doctors. This way, the nation can maximally benefit from the Healthier SG strategy.

Ho Ting Fei (Dr)