Letter of the week: Case for letting people use MediSave for shingles vaccination
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I was disappointed to read about the Ministry of Health’s stance on not subsidising the cost of the shingles vaccine ( No subsidy for shingles vaccine as it is not cost-effective: MOH
MOH’s reasoning that the cost is too high stumps me. The average middle- or low-income individual may be shocked to find out he must fork out about $1,000 to protect himself against shingles.
As the vaccine is available to those aged 50 and above, the cost becomes prohibitively expensive for households with two or more elderly people.
Senior health correspondent Salma Khalik’s painful journey ( ‘I wanted to bang my head’: How a delayed shingles diagnosis caused much suffering
It thus makes sense to vaccinate ourselves against a condition that is preventable if one has the means.
Although an average of 30,000 Singaporeans contract this dreaded disease annually, people may still not be convinced to get vaccinated given the high cost. More will be vaccinated if allowed to tap their MediSave funds to protect themselves.
The Singapore Government has stated its two key areas of focus are tackling cost-of-living concerns and taking better care of seniors. Letting citizens use their MediSave to protect themselves against shingles would be a step in the right direction.
Anita Thaver
