ETHOS Issue 26
November 2023
Last updated 30 July 2026
ETHOS Issue 26 , November 2023
This issue looks at the future of healthcare in Singapore. Ensuring a people’s health is a task vital to a society’s wellbeing, and a responsibility that goes beyond the ambit of healthcare professionals. A critical aspect of governing well, it rests on a whole-of-society will to take care of one another and ourselves. Gathering insights from a range of practitioners and thought leaders from both within and outside the Public Service, we explore how we can look after the health of Singaporeans–both holistically and for the long term.
Editorial
by Dr Alvin Pang and Dr Clive Tan
The COVID-19 crisis is the starkest recent reminder that ensuring a people’s health is a task vital to a society’s wellbeing, and a responsibility that extends well beyond the ambit of healthcare professionals: it is a critical aspect of governing well, and rests on a whole-of-society will to take care of one another and ourselves.
The Next Bound of Health and Healthcare
by Ng How Yue
Strong community relationships, cross-sector partnerships and informed personal agency pave the way for a healthier Singapore for the future.
Creating the Future of Healthcare: A Conversation with Prof Tan Chorh Chuan
by Tan Chorh Chuan
The veteran clinician and Chairman of MOH Office for Healthcare Transformation envisions how new data frameworks, digital tools and cross-sectoral partnerships will revolutionise the way we stay healthier for life, on a national scale.
Designing a Healthier City
by Tai Lee Siang
Urban environments can be designed at different scales to support healthier ways to live, work and play, with tangible benefits for productivity, sustainability and human wellbeing.
Getting Ready for Precision Public Health
by Clive Tan and Jeremy Lim
Digital and data-centred approaches to personalised medicine may soon revolutionalise care and open up new opportunities for Singapore.
Realising the Promise of Health Information
by Raymond Chua
Singapore is introducing a regulatory framework to collect and share health records across the healthcare sector, easing continuity of care for patients and unlocking new potential for public health advances.
Humanising the Future of Care
by Leong Choon Kit
Singapore’s primary care sector is evolving into a sophisticated web of care, with the whole wellbeing of citizens at its heart.
Keeping It Real: Outcomes-Based Contracting for Mental and Social Health
by Richard Johnson
Clear definitions of success, co-determined with stakeholders and supported by robust performance management, are key to delivering results meaningful to the people programmes seek to serve.
Encouraging Healthier Choices: Helping People Take Better Care of Themselves
by Rory Gallagher and Serene Koh
Recent work in behavioural insights at both individual and systemic scales could help advance Singapore’s preventative healthcare paradigm.
Social Norm Nudges and Social Sensemaking: Lessons for Policymakers
by Do Hoang Van Khanh
Do people make decisions based on what their peer group does or believes? Ground reality may complicate public policies based on this assumption.
Building an Age-Inclusive Healthcare System in Singapore
by Reuben Ng & Nicole Indran
An important part of creating a successful ageing society entails reframing the narratives around ageing and involving more seniors in policymaking.
Health is Social: The Future of Care in Singapore
by Eugene Fidelis Soh
By taking responsibility not only individually but collectively for our health, Singaporeans can build the capacities and relationships needed to thrive well into the future.
Nurturing Leaders for the Future of Healthcare
by Pang Weng Sun & Lee Shiao Wei
Singapore’s changing healthcare priorities mean that a new generation of leaders must learn to collaborate, communicate and think collectively, both within and across the sector.
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