Ministry of Health (Singapore) facts for kids
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | 1955 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Singapore |
| Headquarters | 16 College Road, College of Medicine Building, Singapore 169854 |
| Motto | Championing a Healthy Nation |
| Employees | 1,573 (2018) |
| Annual budget |  S$11.72 billion (2019) |
| Ministers responsible |
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| Agency executives |
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| Child agencies |
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The Ministry of Health (MOH; Malay: Kementerian Kesihatan; Chinese: 卫生部; Tamil: சுகாதார அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for managing the public healthcare system in Singapore.
Contents
Statutory boards
- Health Promotion Board
- Health Sciences Authority
- Singapore Dental Council
- Singapore Medical Council
- Singapore Nursing Board
- Singapore Pharmacy Council
- Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board
Ministers
The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Health, who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent minister is MP for Sembawang GRC Ong Ye Kung from the People's Action Party.
| Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Took office | Left office | Party | Cabinet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. J. Braga MP for Katong (1900–1968) |
6 April 1955 |
3 June 1959 |
LF | Marshall | ||
| Lim | ||||||
| SPA | ||||||
| Ahmad Ibrahim MP for Sembawang (1927–1962) |
5 June 1959 |
24 September 1961 |
PAP | Lee K. I | ||
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Kenneth Michael Byrne MP for Crawford (1913–1990) |
24 September 1961 |
18 October 1963 |
PAP | ||
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Yong Nyuk Lin MP for Geylang West (1918–2012) |
19 October 1963 |
15 April 1968 |
PAP | Lee K. II | |
| Chua Sian Chin MP for MacPherson (1933–2014) |
16 April 1968 |
1 June 1975 |
PAP | Lee K. III | ||
| Lee K. IV | ||||||
| Toh Chin Chye MP for Rochore (1921–2012) |
2 June 1975 |
5 January 1981 |
PAP | |||
| Lee K. V | ||||||
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Goh Chok Tong MP for Marine Parade (born 1941) |
6 January 1981 |
31 May 1982 |
PAP | Lee K. VI | |
| Howe Yoon Chong MP for Potong Pasir (1923–2007) |
1 June 1982 |
1 January 1985 |
PAP | |||
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Tony Tan MP for Sembawang (born 1940) |
2 January 1985 |
6 May 1985 |
PAP | Lee K. VII | |
| Richard Hu MP for Kreta Ayer (1926–2023) |
7 May 1985 |
31 December 1986 |
PAP | |||
| Yeo Cheow Tong MP for Hong Kah (until 1988) MP for Hong Kah GRC (from 1988) (born 1947) |
1 January 1987 |
1 January 1994 |
PAP | |||
| Lee K. VIII | ||||||
| Goh I | ||||||
| Goh II | ||||||
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George Yeo MP for Aljunied GRC (born 1954) |
2 January 1994 |
24 January 1997 |
PAP | ||
| Yeo Cheow Tong MP for Hong Kah GRC (born 1947) |
25 January 1997 |
2 June 1999 |
PAP | Goh III | ||
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Lim Hng Kiang MP for West Coast GRC (born 1954) |
3 June 1999 |
31 July 2003 |
PAP | ||
| Goh IV | ||||||
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Khaw Boon Wan MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC (until 2006) MP for Sembawang GRC (from 2006) (born 1952) Interim until 11 August 2004 |
1 August 2003 |
20 May 2011 |
PAP | ||
| Lee H. I | ||||||
| Lee H. II | ||||||
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Gan Kim Yong MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC (born 1959) |
21 May 2011 |
14 May 2021 |
PAP | Lee H. III | |
| Lee H. IV | ||||||
| Lee H. V | ||||||
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Ong Ye Kung MP for Sembawang GRC (born 1969) |
15 May 2021 |
Incumbent | PAP | ||
| Wong I | ||||||
Incidents
HIV data leak
On 28 January 2019, sensitive information including names, identification numbers, phone numbers, addresses and HIV test results of 12,400 HIV-positive people were leaked online due to mishandling of the information by then-staff member, Ler Teck Siang. Ler, who was the head of National Public Health Unit at MOH at the time, had access to the information and had not complied comply with Ministry of Health's security guidelines. Ler downloaded the information on to a personal thumb drive, which his then-boyfriend Mikhy K Farrera Brochez had leaked online subsequently. Minister of Health, Gan Kim Yong, explained that data leak had not been announced earlier, so as to safeguard the patients' well-being.
Community Health Assist Scheme computer system error
On 16 February 2019, MOH released a public statement admitting that there had been an error in computer systems managed by NCS that were used in relation to the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS). The error resulted in a miscalculation of the amount of health care subsidies applicants were eligible to receive through means-testing, such that approximately 1,300 people received lower subsidies and 6,400 people received higher subsidies.
The first discrepancy in a result of a CHAS card holder was detected on 24 September 2018 by MOH. NCS was informed immediately. NCS had initially attributed the issue to intermittent network connection problems. Between 9 October 2018 and 2 November 2018, another 5 more cases involving discrepancies were detected, prompting the launch of a more in-depth investigation. In November 2018, NCS traced the cause of the discrepancies to a software version issue used on a server used by the system. The identified issue occurred during a migration of the system to another government data center in September 2018. The software version issue was resolved as part of other changes made to address an unrelated performance issue on 10 October 2018. However, incorrect results that had been generated between 18 September 2018 and 10 October 2018 remained in the system.
Remedial actions were then carried out by MOH and NCS to assess impact on the affected applicants. MOH announced that it would work with grant scheme administrators and healthcare institutions to follow up with notifications and reimbursement to the affected applicants. According to media reports, MOH intended to recover costs and expenses arising from this incident from NCS as MOH was entitled to pursuant to the contract between the parties.
See also
- Healthcare in Singapore
