17th case of chikungunya confirmed

The Ministry of Health has confirmed Singapore’s 17th case of the mosquito-borne disease, chikungunya, here.

He is Mr E. C. Sng, who caught the bug overseas. He believes he caught the virus while playing golf at Jakarta’s prestigious Jagorawi Golf & Country Club a month ago.

He has not passed on the disease to anyone and is no longer infectious.

So far, 13 people have been infected locally, and another four, including Mr Sng, caught the virus overseas.

Like dengue, chikungunya is spread through the Aedes mosquito. It spreads if an infected person is bitten by an Aedes mosquito within days of getting symptoms, which include fever, headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, muscle ache, rash and pain in the joints. The mosquito spreads the virus to those it subsequently bites. (story)

HIV hits record in Singapore

The number of HIV cases in Singapore hit a record last year, according to figures monitored on Wednesday.

Statistics from the health ministry showed 422 people newly infected with the Aids virus in 2007, the highest number in a single year since records began in 1985.

About 93 per cent of those infected were males, and most of the infections were transmitted through sex, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Nearly two-thirds of the infections occurred through heterosexual sex, while there were seven cases from intravenous drug use and one through a blood transfusion overseas, it said.

Most infections were detected during testing for some form of medical treatment, with only 13 per cent discovered during voluntary screening, it said.

The number of persons infected with HIV between 1985 and 2007 totalled 3,482, the ministry said, adding that 1,144 have died. (story)

BPA still a concern for most expecting parents

All plastic bottles sold here are safe and no stores have been asked to stop selling them, the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said on Wednesday.

The announcement came after retailer Toys ‘R’ Us voluntarily pulled plastic baby bottles from its shelves on Tuesday in response to concerns that they might leach a potentially toxic chemical.

A representative of Toys ‘R’ Us here declined to comment on the decision. But it comes amid growing global worry over the safety of drink and food containers made from polycarbonate - a hard transparent plastic - which is produced using a chemical called bisphenol A or BPA.

A report by the United States National Institutes of Health, released a week ago, expressed concerns that BPA could affect brain development in infants and increase their risk of developing breast and prostate cancer later in life. (story)

Medishield insurance gets improvements

For $10 more a month, most people will no longer have to pay huge out-of-pocket payments for big hospital bills.

Now, the Medishield insurance scheme pays only about 55 per cent of big bills in the subsidised B2 and C class wards. This means that a patient with a $10,000 a bill has to fork out $4,500.

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan wants the patient’s share to be lower, at about 20 per cent. So he is almost doubling the maximum payouts, making the announcement after launching the job fair for the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Yishun on Thursday.

Premiums will go up by less than $5 a month for those younger than 60 years, and by less than $10 for people aged 60 to 80.

Dr Fatima Lateef, who is on the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Health, said the increase in premiums was ‘very reasonable’ and the ‘reduction in out of pocket payment would be a great welcome.’ (story)

Flu deaths estimated at 600 per year

About 600 people die from influenza in Singapore every year, and many of these lives could have been saved, experts say. The majority of them are 65 years and older. They rarely die of the flu virus, but from complications arising from a bad flu bout.

Doctors say that flu vaccine can cut the risk of death among the elderly by as much as 80 per cent.

A study on the flu deaths here between 1996 and 2003, released by the Ministry of Health and Singapore General Hospital in 2006, found that people over 65 are more than 11 times as likely to die of the flu than younger adults.

Many die because they also get a bacterial infection on top of the flu, and develop pneumonia, the third most common cause of deaths here.

The team concluded that these 600 deaths could have been prevented either through annual vaccinations or good treatment with antiviral medicine like Tamiflu or Relenza. (story)

3 month course nets graduates jobs in health care field

Miss Rosyanti Abdullah was 49 when her company restructured last year and she lost her job. The O-level certificate holder spent 12 months looking for work, but found herself losing out to younger and better educated competition.

But after attending a three-month course that trains health-care assistants, she will start work this month at the Ling Kwang Home, a facility for the elderly.

‘I have been keen to get a job in health care for a long time, but didn’t have an opportunity until now,’ she said.

She is among 17 students who graduated on Wednesday from the second run of the health-care assistant course. The program trains those without prior experience to help take care of patients’ daily needs in community hospitals and nursing homes. (story)

Ren Ci continues without CEO

The longtime chief of Ren Ci has stepped aside as a probe deepened this week into an accounting scandal that has dogged the Buddhist charity since November. Venerable Ming Yi, the charity’s chief executive officer, went on leave Monday, the day white-collar crime investigators began pouring over Ren Ci’s books.

The monk’s decision was welcomed on Tuesday by Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who called it ‘a professional response.’

Mr Khaw brought in investigators from the police’s Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) on Monday to investigate several million dollars in questionable loans made by Ren Ci.

Some of the firms that received money had strong links to the Venerable Ming Yi, also an abbot at a Geylang Monastery.

His decision to step aside should ‘facilitate the CAD investigation’, Mr Khaw said. (story)

China made dumplings deliberately poisoned

Japan’s health minister on Tuesday said China-made dumplings may have been deliberately poisoned with pesticide as the number of Japanese reporting illness reaches the thousands.Pesticide was detected on the package wrapping and the frozen meat dumplings, triggering a nationwide scare that led major foodmakers to recall all food made at the factory near Beijing.

‘Taking into account the circumstantial evidence we have so far, we cannot help suspecting crime,’ Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe told reporters.

A total of 3,742 people have said they became sick after eating the dumplings or other frozen food, the health ministry said in its latest figures, although it noted only 10 were diagnosed with pesticide poisoning. (story)

Thailand joins smoking ban

Thailand will extend its ban on smoking to air-conditioned bars and offices and outdoor markets next month, joining major developed countries in a war on tobacco, a leading Thai anti-smoking agency said on Friday.

Smokers faced a 2,000 baht ($60) fine and owners who fail to enforce the law could be fined 20,000 baht ($600) after the ban takes effect on Feb. 17, said the Thailand Health Promotion Institute, which helped push for the law.

The Health Ministry ban, already in place for air-conditioned restaurants, could face opposition from some bar owners, group president Hatai Chitanondh said in a statement.

“They may be thinking the Health Ministry is ruining their business, kicking away their customers, but our research papers show a smoking ban will bring more customers to them,” Hatai said. (story)

Subsidized health services to be cut for non permanent residents, Jan.1

From January 1 next year, foreigners who are not Permanent Residents (PRs) will not receive any healthcare subsidy.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said PRs will continue to be subsidised for hospital services, but at 5 percentage points less than citizens.

This will be reduced by another 5 percentage points from 1 July 2008.

For example, for Class B1 ward, subsidy level for PRs will go down from 20% currently to 15% in January. By July, the subsidy will be reduced further to 10%.

For Class B2 wards, the subsidy will be lowered from 65% currently to 60% in January and then 55% in July.

For Class C wards, the subsidy will be 75% in January, down from 80% currently. This will be further reduced to 70% in July.

Subsidy for day surgery will be reduced from 65% currently to 60% and subsequently to 55%.

For Specialist Outpatient Clinic, the subsidy will eventually be 40%, down from 50% currently. (story)