MOST workplace health programmes focus on fitness and nutrition, but very few deal with chronic diseases, HIV/Aids and mental health, according to a survey by the Health Promotion Board (HPB).

These areas still rank 'fairly low' in the health priority of workplaces, said HPB, which polled 688 private companies with more than 50 workers last year.

The survey showed that only 19.8 per cent of workplaces had programmes addressing diabetes, 16 per cent had mental wellness initiatives and 7.4 per cent provided education on sexually transmitted infections and Aids.

Most of the workplace health programmes focused on fitness and nutrition programmes, with 42.4 per cent and 38.7 per cent of the companies having these in place respectively.

The 2006 survey findings were released at the 7th Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) Conference on Thursday, attended by some 180 employers and human resource executives from various industries.

They revealed that workplace health promotion was viewed more favourably, with 65 per cent of the surveyed firms considering it as a valued human resource strategy which would raise productivity, staff morale and reduce healthcare costs. This is a significant increase from 50 per cent in 2003.

There was also an increase in the workplace health promotion programmes - 58.7 per cent of workplaces covering 75 per cent of the workforce had these in place in 2006, against 45.1 per cent and 64.9 per cent respectively in 2003.

Workplace with larger number of workers also had more programmes.

Companies which did not provide for such programmes cited limited experience in organising them, lack of staff and inadequate budget.

'While the positive response towards WHP programmes is encouraging, the survey also indicated the potential gaps and what workplaces could do to increase the productivity of their workforce,' said HPB.

To encourage companies with less than 500 workers to take up workplace health promotion, HPB said it will bring workplace health programmes to their door-steps, and provide complimentary and mass activity based initiatives such as Fitness@Work and i-RUN, for companies lacking in resources.

HPB will also find out their needs and challenges and formulate strategies to address their needs.

A range of programmes is available to help workplaces overcome the barriers of implementing WHP programmes.

These include training and seminars in workplace health promotion, a health portal, Health@Work and ClubHealth, a peer support programme for workplace health facilitators.

These serve as platforms for sharing of best practices and experiences among companies, as well as resources to provide companies to implement WHP programmes.

Companies can also apply for the Workplace Health and Sports Promotion (WHSP) grant and receive co-funding of up to $10,000 to kick-start and sustain their workplace health and sports promotion programmes.

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