Speeches
SPEECH BY DR KOH POH KOON, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF HEALTH, AND MINISTRY OF MANPOWER, AT THE SINGAPORE OPTOMETRIC ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE
8 October 2025
Mr Lee Kang Lian, President of Singapore Optometric Association
Mr Mah Wee Beng, Deputy Principal, Ngee Ann Polytechnic
Valued colleagues, stakeholders and community partners
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen
1. A very good morning. It gives me great pleasure to join you here this morning at the 10th edition of the Singapore Optometric Association (SOA) Conference. As a medical practitioner myself, I am very heartened to join my fellow healthcare colleagues at today’s conference to discuss the future of eye health. As you can see, my eye health needs a little bit of augmentation.
2. The theme this year, "Elevating Optometry: Expanding Roles, Enhancing Care", speaks directly to the evolving landscape of eye health and the crucial role that optometrists play today in Singapore’s healthcare sectors. Vision is one of our most crucial and vital senses that we have, and safeguarding our eyesight and vision is essential; not only for individual wellbeing but also fulfills the broader aim of promoting our public health.
Rising Incidence of Eye Diseases
3. In 2023, Singapore was classified as one of the world’s six “Blue Zones” – what does this mean? This means we are at a place where people not only live long but thrive with good health well into their 90s and beyond. What makes this recognition particularly meaningful is not just the lifespan, but more importantly the healthspan — the quality of life that we are able to maintain even as we age. Yet this milestone comes with new imperatives, notably among them safeguarding our vision enables us to fully enjoy these extended, healthy lifespan. It is important to have a good vision to maintain independence. I’m sure even as we reach our retirement years, we might like to do some travelling, not just smell the roses, but picking the sights and sounds as well. Some of us, even as we retire with more time on our hands, might want to sit at home and watch our favourite K-dramas and Netflix - this has become the new pastime now for the young and old. And of course, to keep healthy and active, we need to engage in sports – we really need good eyesight to see and play pickleball. So having a good vision, good eye health, in our golden years is crucial to have a good and fulfilling retirement life.
4. In the 2021 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, blindness and vision loss were among the top 20 causes of years lived with disability, a very unfortunate statistic. Singapore has among the world's highest myopia rates, putting us at risk of vision disorders as we age. Visits for eye health at our public healthcare institutions have grown by 23% over the past decade. So looking ahead, as our population continues to age, we anticipate that the demand for eye services will continue to rise, even for myself who has enjoyed perfect vision for the best part of my life. Once I crossed 50, now in my 53rd year of my life, I have to start wearing glasses in the last three months because presbyopia has set in. So, it’s time to put on glasses. And this is part and parcel of a healthy, normal aging process, and I think it highlights the role that optometrists play in maintaining the quality of life of our aging population.
Vision Screening Programmes in Singapore
5. We recognise that eye diseases are often asymptomatic in their early stages. Individuals, like myself, may also delay seeking treatment until their conditions have deteriorated significantly. This is why early detection and timely interventions are critical. Hence, we have implemented various programmes to achieve this.
6. Since 2001, we have implemented the National Myopia Prevention Programme, which screens children from Kindergarten 1 to Primary 4 for myopia. The programme combines annual vision screening for myopia, with public education to adopt good eye habits and engage in more outdoor activities. Children who require early intervention for myopia are referred to HPB’s refraction clinics.
7. We have thus far seen myopia prevalence rates in Primary 1 students decrease and stabilise at 26% in 2023. This approach is particularly crucial given that the age of onset is a key predictor of severe myopia complications later on in life.
8. For our seniors, MOH launched the Project Silver Screen (PSS) in 2018, a national community functional screening programme to enable the early detection of major vision disorders such as cataract, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. Early detection will enable seniors to preserve their vision and maintain their quality of life well into their golden years.
Optometrists’ Expanding Role in Eye Care
9. While early detection is crucial, we must also ensure that the subsequent care our patients remains accessible. This is where optometrists can play an even greater role. In Singapore, there is a common misconception that optometrists only prescribe glasses and perform routine vision checks. What many are unaware of is that optometrists are already integral today to the care team for patients with eye conditions across our public healthcare institutions. For example, optometrists in the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC), the NHG Health and the National University Health System (NUHS) are involved in the management of patients with eye conditions, as well as recommending eye care plans, and providing care to many patients.
10. But beyond the hospital setting, there is room for us to rethink the roles of optometrists and redesign roles based on competencies. Trained optometrists can anchor primary eye care in close partnership with public healthcare institutions, and manage patients with stable and less complex eye conditions, guided by established care protocols and clear clinical pathways. So, there is headroom for optometrists to play a greater role in eye care.
11. And to this end, MOH has rolled out pilots with public healthcare institutions, such as the Community Eye Clinics (CECs), where trained optometrists manage patients with specific conditions like cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. Thus far, there are five CECs in the community, located at Ang Mo Kio Specialist Centre, Geylang Polyclinic, Hougang Polyclinic, Pioneer Polyclinic, and Choa Chu Kang Polyclinic, which provide more convenient access to eye care services right in the heart of the community, in close proximity to our heartlands. To date, the CECs saw more than 83,000 attendances.
12. MOH is also in the early stages of piloting other care models, involving optometrists in the private sector, where optometrists similarly undergo training programmes before they manage patients with specific eye conditions in close partnership with our healthcare institutions and conduct follow up vision tests for seniors after community screening. So, forming a lot more community touchpoints, increasing the care continuum outside of hospital, so there’s ready access and convenience.
Building Up Training Opportunities for Optometrists
13. To support these transformation efforts, we will need to equip optometrists with additional competencies for them to pick up new skills quickly and apply them confidently wherever they are. Our Institutes of Higher Learnings are already starting to develop top-up training programmes that are modular, stackable, and workplace-based to support further training of optometrists. So, many of our current optometrists that are already in practice for some time can have access to these courses and up their competencies. This will ensure that optometrists meet the requirements of the future expanded roles for optometrists validated by these pilots safely. Ultimately, we also need to use this opportunity to project confidence and quality to our public out there so they can see optometrists and have confidence that good quality eye care will be delivered to them.
14. I am heartened to know that the SOA continues to play an important role in this effort — championing professional development through collaboration with industry and education institutions, and organising courses to maintain high standards of care. And of course, a conference like this that brings practitioners together, industry experts together, will be another important platform to level up the knowledge and understanding, and the competencies of the profession as a whole. The Association’s commitment extends to community care service through vision screening projects, eyewear giveaways at community centres, and their remarkable 20-year partnership with the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) for back-to-school screening programmes. So, this is a very busy association, I urge all of you optometrist out there to support the work of SOA.
Closing
15. Now, over the next two days, I want to encourage you to not just share insights and build networks, but to forge meaningful partnerships and friendships because the profession is at a new baseline. There’s a lot we can do together, and this is the time for us to come together and galvanise action. Whether you are ophthalmologists, optometrists, orthoptists, vision therapists, researchers, or industry players: all of us play unique and complementary roles. Together, we can build a more resilient, integrated, and compassionate eye health ecosystem, for the benefit of all our patients. And I can assure you that all of us, one day, will grow old and will all need eye care.
16. As we work together to elevate optometry, we're not just enhancing individual care—we're ensuring that Singapore remains a place where people don't just live longer, but see clearly and live fully at every stage of life.
17. The vision we share today will shape the sight our nation enjoys for many years to come. And let us make it a clear one, not filled with uncertainty and haziness. With that, let me thank everyone for having me here, and I wish all of you a good conference over the next few days. Thank you very much.