By international standards, Singapore’s state of health is good. Rising standards of living, high standards of education, good housing, safe water supply and sanitation, high quality medical services and the active promotion of preventive medicine, have all helped to significantly boost the health of Singaporeans.
Leading causes of morbidity and mortality are major non-communicable diseases such as cancer, coronary heart diseases, strokes, pneumonia, diabetes, hypertension and injuries. In 2008, cancer, ischaemic heart disease and pneumonia together accounted for approximnately 60% of the total causes of death. These diseases share many common risk factors such as smoking, obesity, physical inactivity and alcohol consumption.