Singapore must not let valuable lessons from Covid-19 go to waste: PM

Singapore should make the most of the changes forced on it by Covid-19 to improve the way it does things, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

Speaking at the Singapore General Hospital's (SGH) Lecture and Formal Dinner 2022, which was held at Shangri-La Singapore, PM Lee noted that Singapore will one day encounter Disease X.

This is the name given to a new pathogen that might emerge in the future, one that is highly transmissible, highly lethal, and mutates easily.

PM Lee said: "With Covid-19, countries already struggled to cope, and humankind paid a heavy price in suffering and death.

"It is entirely possible that within the next few decades, another novel pathogen more lethal and infectious than Covid-19 will sweep the world... We must prepare for it early, the best we can, so as to be ready to mount a swift and effective response when it happens."

Shifting away from future pandemics, PM Lee added: "We cannot thoughtlessly revert to the status quo ante after this crisis. Or let valuable lessons, for which we have paid dearly, go to waste."

He said that this means two things for the nation's healthcare system.

First, it must keep up its high standards of medical excellence by continually investing in its healthcare workers, and supporting them with good medical facilities and healthcare infrastructure.

At the same time, this also means building up Singapore's scientific and biomedical capabilities, and collaborating with researchers in other countries.

Second, there is a need to further develop an emphasis on public health.

Public health focuses on the health of the overall population and not of individuals. The priority is to benefit as many people as possible, PM Lee said.

That is why Singapore replaced the more sensitive polymerase chain reaction tests with the antigen rapid tests for most cases, so as to pick up and isolate infectious cases faster and more cheaply.

This made a bigger impact on disease transmission, he added.

Noting that in normal times, many other "popular" medical specialisations are more sought after, PM Lee pointed out that in a pandemic, public health expertise is crucial.

This is because the nation must be able to understand how a new disease is spreading, make sense of disease trends, and devise models to assess and predict them, evaluate alternative public health measures, and devise non-medical interventions that can help bring the outbreak under control.

So there is a need to strengthen skills in these areas, and ensure high-quality public health inputs inform policymaking, said PM Lee.

He added: "Singapore must continue to grow in maturity and resilience, learning from our experiences and those of others, and so must our healthcare system."

During his speech, PM Lee also noted the remarkable transformations SGH has undergone over the years.

"SGH's success mirrors our journey as a nation, and the tremendous improvement in our healthcare standards," he said, noting that today, Singapore has one of the highest life expectancies and lowest infant mortality rates in the world.

PM Lee said Singapore and its healthcare system must continue growing in maturity and resilience, and learning from its experiences and those of others.

"I trust that SGH will continue to contribute your talent and leadership to this endeavour, and in so doing help to achieve good healthcare outcomes for Singapore for many years to come."