SINGAPORE - Health Promotion Board (HPB) chief executive Zee Yoong Kang will step down on April 1 after completing three terms.
Chief operating officer (COO) Koh Peng Keng will take over as interim CEO, until HPB finalises the appointment of Mr Zee's successor and announces it in due course, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) and HPB in a statement on Thursday (March 17).
Mr Zee served as HPB's CEO for nine years, during which HPB increased the share of Healthier Choice Symbol products among packaged foods purchased by consumers.
The uptake of HPB's Screen for Life programme for disease prevention and the follow-up rate also increased significantly over the years, MOH and HPB added.
They said: "During his tenure, HPB also forged numerous partnerships with agencies in both the public and private sectors, which have contributed to the increase in the overall physical activity level for Singaporeans."
Mr Zee advocated the use of technology and new capabilities to further HPB's work, like the National Steps Challenge, which has engaged more than 1.7 million participants across the past five seasons since 2015.
He also led HPB to help build and scale up national testing operations to support Singapore's testing strategy during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Koh was involved in the planning and execution of HPB's health promotion and disease prevention programmes as COO.
He was also the group director of the Testing Operations Task Group in HPB prior to his appointment as COO, where he led the national swab and testing operations for Covid-19.
Mr Koh, who joined the civil service in 1985, held various positions in the Singapore Armed Forces and ministries such as the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, and the Ministry of Health.
HPB chairman Philip Lee said that Mr Zee has been a focal point in promoting health initiatives in Singapore.
"He steered HPB in the use of technologies, data analytics as well as behavioural insights in designing programmes for government healthcare initiatives, such as the National Steps Challenge programme, Live Healthy SG initiative and LumiHealth mobile application," he added.
