2024 wrapped: The biggest health stories of the year, and what’s next

SINGAPORE – The ongoing woes facing Singapore’s oldest private cord blood bank, greater scrutiny of telemedicine providers and

a continued focus on preparing for the next pandemic

were among the major issues involving healthcare in Singapore in 2024.

Here are five of the top health stories of 2024, and what can be expected in 2025:

1. Preparing the population for the next pandemic

Changes to the Infectious Diseases Act were

passed in March

, with the aim of allowing the Republic to address public health threats of varying severity.

A new intermediate state called the Public Health Threat was introduced, in addition to the more dire Public Health Emergency.

These changes effectively replace the earlier colour-coded Disease Outbreak Response System Condition, or Dorscon, framework.

In September, the country also

stepped up measures to protect against mpox

, previously known as monkeypox, after the World Health Organisation declared the disease a global public health emergency for the second time in two years.

These include free vaccinations for healthcare workers at highest risk of exposure to mpox, as well as close contacts of confirmed cases, in addition to immediate contact tracing for close contacts of confirmed mpox clade I cases.

On Dec 21, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said Singapore was watching four diseases as part of pandemic preparedness efforts – H5N1 bird flu, Covid-19, mpox clade I, and a mystery disease in Congo, which its Health Ministry has since identified as a severe form of malaria.

2. Telemedicine under greater scrutiny

Gaining popularity amid the safe management measures of the Covid-19 pandemic, telemedicine came under greater scrutiny in 2024.

On Dec 20, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced it was

revoking the licence of MaNaDr Clinic

, whose services include teleconsultation, citing “an entrenched culture of disregard for the applicable ethical and clinical standards”.

MOH cited many cases involving very short teleconsultations, with the shortest lasting just one second.

Separately, the ministry said earlier in December that it is looking into potential lapses by telehealth platforms in the provision of online consultations.

This was in response to an investigation by The Straits Times of seven platforms offering popular weight-loss drugs, which found two instances where cameras were not turned on during consultations.

But Mr Ong has said

there is no need to review existing telemedicine standards and requirements

, as enforcement has been effective in addressing errant operators.

3. No lifeline for Cordlife

Having come under fire in late 2023 after

lapses at its storage facilities

were revealed, Cordlife’s woes continued in 2024.

In April, following further tests, MOH revealed that about 5,300 cord blood units stored with Singapore’s longest-operating cord blood bank had been deemed non-viable and unlikely to be suitable for stem cell transplant purposes.

This was in addition to the damaged cord blood units of 2,150 customers uncovered in November 2023.

Such lapses led to

hundreds of aggrieved parents seeking legal action

against Cordlife in the first half of 2024.

In 2024,

eight of the beleaguered company’s leaders

, including former group chief executive Tan Poh Lan, were arrested over potential breaches of the firm’s disclosure obligations relating to its mishandling of cord blood units.

After overhauling its facilities and operations, Cordlife was

permitted to resume its cord blood banking services

in September following a hiatus of more than nine months, subject to conditions such as receiving no more than 30 new cord blood units a month for the first six months.

However, Cordlife is not out of the woods yet, as it reported

a $1.6 million third-quarter net loss

in November.

4. New hospital model as healthcare capacity grows

MOH announced in January that it intends to introduce

a new not-for-profit private acute hospital model

, pointing to a need to increase Singapore’s acute hospital bed capacity, amid rising demand for healthcare services due to the country’s ageing population.

When it opens, the facility would be the Republic’s second private not-for-profit acute hospital, after

Mount Alvernia Hospital

.

Other efforts to meet Singapore’s growing healthcare needs in 2024 include

Woodlands Health Campus

, which was officially opened in July and has 1,800 beds and serves north and north-western Singapore, and

Khatib Polyclinic

– the country’s 26th polyclinic, serving some 80,000 residents – which opened in May.

5. Expansion of Nutri-Grade scheme

MOH announced the Nutri-Grade labelling requirements will be

extended to four other products

– pre-packed salt, sauces and seasonings, instant noodles and cooking oil – in a bid to cut down on the salt and saturated fat that people consume and reduce the risk of health issues such as heart attack and stroke.

This follows

the successful use of such labels

on pre-packaged and freshly prepared beverages, grading them from A to D, with D being the least healthy choice.

In September,

the scheme clinched Singapore

the 2024 World Health Organisation Healthy Cities Recognition Award, given to eight cities in Asia for exceptional achievements in promoting health and well-being.

According to the National Nutrition Survey 2022, nine in 10 people here

exceeded the recommended sodium limit

of 2,000mg a day.

Looking ahead

1. Changes in store for MediShield Life

From April 2025, Singaporeans can claim higher payouts for hospital stays, in addition to coverage for additional outpatient treatments as well as certain new ground-breaking therapies under

changes to national insurance scheme MediShield Life

.

First announced in October, the changes include increasing the inpatient daily claim limits for the first two days of a normal ward stay to $1,630, up from $1,000, while daily claim limits for intensive care unit stays will more than double to $5,140.

This revision will also see premiums for MediShield Life increase, though most Singaporeans

will get help

to more than offset these increases with the Government providing $4.1 billion in support measures.

2. More mental health support

A new National Mental Health Office, comprising officers from the health and education as well as social and family development ministries, will be fully established by 2025 to oversee the implementation of the National Mental Health and Well-being Strategy and future mental healthcare developments here.

A new

National Mental Health Helpline and Textline service

for people facing mental distress will be available by mid-2025, with trained counsellors addressing common mental health concerns and brief counselling via a phone call or text messages.

The first quarter of 2025 will also see

the launch of guidelines

, developed by the Workplace Safety and Health Council, for employers to help them support staff with mental health challenges.

Employers who are unsure about how to support staff with mental health challenges will be able to tap advice from the set of guidelines.

3. Expansion of Project Wolbachia

In 2025, the National Environment Agency (NEA) will study the possibility of expanding the use of Wolbachia technology.

In place since 2016, Project Wolbachia currently sees lab-grown male mosquitoes – infected with Wolbachia bacteria to prevent them from reproducing – released in high-risk dengue areas to control the mosquito population.

NEA will deploy Wolbachia-Aedes mosquitoes at selected fast-growing, large clusters to suppress transmission in these areas, supplementing other methods of controlling the growth of dengue clusters.

The first quarter will see 580,000 households

covered by Project Wolbachia

, a step towards the goal of covering 800,000 households – or about 50 per cent of all households in Singapore – by 2026, laid out by Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu in November.

4. More care for seniors

By 2025, Singapore will have

220 active ageing centres

, which serve seniors by providing them with recreational activities and social support as well as referral to care services across the island.

This will provide eight in 10 seniors access to activities near their homes, ahead of the country becoming “super aged” – where 21 per cent of the population is aged 65 or older – in 2026.

As Singapore’s population rapidly ages, home palliative care capacity will increase to 3,600 places by end-2025, giving more people the opportunity to

spend their last days in the comfort of their homes

.

To strengthen care support for the elderly, the enhanced Home Personal Care service will be rolled out islandwide by the end of 2025, offering support for activities such as feeding and housekeeping, as well as a technology-enabled monitoring and response element to detect falls and incidents.

5. Genetic testing for familial hypercholesterolaemia

By mid-2025, MOH will launch

a national genetic testing programme for familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH)

, a hereditary condition that affects the body’s ability to process cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease.

FH affects some 20,000 people in Singapore, less than 10 per cent of whom have been diagnosed.

Under the programme, those with abnormally high cholesterol levels will be referred for FH genetic testing at a new Genomic Assessment Centre.

Those diagnosed with FH will receive support from Healthier SG clinics to adopt healthier lifestyles and start on subsidised cholesterol-lowering therapies.

Should the programme prove successful, similar programmes will be developed for other major severe diseases, such as diabetes and kidney failure.