SINGAPORE – Singapore will set up a dedicated centre for public health to consolidate its disease control and pandemic management capabilities and expertise, as well as a dedicated forward planning team to prepare to fight through the fog of future pandemics in the best way possible, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong told Parliament on Monday (March 20).
The centre for public health will enable Singapore to grow its public health capabilities over time while the forward planning team will help the nation better anticipate the next bound, develop the next course of action, and pivot more effectively as the situation evolves, he said.
This follows the March 8 release of a 92-page White Paper on Singapore’s response to the pandemic, which had looked at how the country can build on its successes and avoid the errors committed in future pandemics.
“Today, we have fully transitioned to living with Covid-19 as an endemic disease. The virus is still among us, and no one can tell how it will continue to evolve,” said Mr Wong at the debate on the motion on Singapore’s response to Covid-19.
“But for now, the evolution seems to be plodding, with minor tweaks to its genetic code rather than major changes that require another Greek-letter name. So it is timely to take stock of our response, so we can start preparing for the next battle, whenever it comes.”
The nature of dealing with a crisis is that Singapore will always be faced with incomplete information and there will never be a “perfect response” in a crisis that is as complex, unpredictable and fast-moving as Covid-19, added Mr Wong.
“Every new pathogen we meet will involve a degree of dealing with the unknown and it would be prohibitively expensive to cater for a wide range of ‘worst cases’,” he pointed out.
“We have to judge what is the best way forward, based on what we know and respond quickly, rather than wait for all the facts to come in, by which time it might be too late to act.”
Mr Wong shared the pandemic management plans as he pointed to three broad lessons gleaned from the Covid-19 pandemic: on fortifying the public health system; enhancing forward planning capabilities and strengthening Singapore’s resilience as a nation.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung will elaborate on the plans for the dedicated centre for public health, similar to what many other countries have done in setting up centres for disease control, Mr Wong said.
Singapore already has some of these public capabilities, especially in the area of communicable disease control and management, as that had beefed up after severe acute respiratory syndrome hit in 2003.
However, these currently reside in various parts of the Republic’s healthcare system, for example in the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, the National Public Health Laboratory, and within the Ministry of Health itself, Mr Wong noted.
The more dangerous scenario would be one where Singapore faces a pathogen that has both high mortality and high contagion risks.
“We will need to broaden the range of baseline scenarios for pandemic planning, and review the resources needed to respond to these different scenarios. Being prepared and making investments early can yield immense dividends, especially during a crisis,” Mr Wong said.
Singapore will have to strike the right balance to make good use of Singapore’s limited resources.
“This may involve planning for contingencies that can be pivoted ‘just in time’ to support our pandemic response, so we don’t have to build layers of redundancies that may remain underused outside of a crisis, but cost us a disproportionate amount of resources to maintain,” he added.
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The country does not have to “front-load” all of the investments to cater for all contingencies. But it must create a dynamic, forward-oriented organisation and process whose main mission is to anticipate and monitor risks, and to keep buying insurance, where needed, he said.
“So as the crisis develops, we can continue to buy more insurance and options for the future.”
He also said Covid-19 has underscored the importance of building up additional redundancies and buffers that Singapore can fall back on during a crisis. Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong will elaborate on these, including the country’s stockpiling strategies.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought out the best in Singaporeans, individually and collectively, Mr Wong stressed.
“We stood firmly together, and left no one behind. That’s a mark of our growing maturity and resilience, as a people and as a nation,” he said.
“Let’s always remember the most important lesson of Covid-19: that we are stronger when we stand and work together. So let us resolve to stay united, so that whatever the challenges ahead, we can overcome them as one people and one Singapore.”.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.