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The Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, will visit Singapore from Thursday to Saturday (November 6 to 8) to share experiences with health officials there on control measures against SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and other communicable diseases.
During the three-day visit, Dr Yeoh will meet with Acting Minister for Health, Mr Khaw Boon Wan; the Minister of State for Health, Dr Balaji Sadasivan; and visit Singapore's dedicated SARS hospital, the Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Dr Yeoh will hold discussions with the Singaporean officials on the communicable disease control mechanism, contingency planning, utilisation of information technology in the control of communicable diseases and the initiation of response in an outbreak.
"In our preparation for the setting up of a Centre for Health Protection, it is important to learn from different overseas experience. We have held discussions with officials from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States and the Health Protection Agency of the United Kingdom.
"It will be useful to listen and observe how our Singaporean counterparts tackle communicable diseases," Dr Yeoh said.
Also joining the visit are Deputy Director of Health, Dr Leung Pak-yin; and Deputy Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Miss Susie Ho.
Ends/Tuesday, November 4, 2003
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