Speech by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health, at the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the new National Cancer Centre Singapore, 2 June 2017

Prof Ivy Ng, Group CEO, Singapore Health Services

Prof Soo Khee Chee, Director, National Cancer Centre Singapore

Mr Goh Cheng Liang, Founder, Goh Foundation

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning to all of you.

Introduction

1.         It gives me great pleasure to join you this morning at the ground-breaking ceremony of the new National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) building. The new NCCS is one of the upcoming healthcare facilities under the first phase of the redevelopment of this campus.

Growing Cancer Burden

2.         Cancer poses a serious health burden globally, and in Singapore, it is the leading cause of death, accounting for about 30% of deaths among Singapore residents^[1] in 2015.  Between 2011 and 2015, about 35 Singapore residents were diagnosed with cancer every day and 15 passed away from cancer^[2].  

3.         Over the years, we have grown our national capacity and capability for cancer treatment. In addition to the NCCS, the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS), was established in 2008 and its facilities expanded in 2013 to cater to the growing demand.   Staff in all our hospitals have also been sent for training so as to be better able to provide good care for our cancer patients.  Thanks to their good work, more people are surviving cancer now than before. We have managed to reduce the age-standardised cancer death rate by close to 16%, from 116 per 100,000 resident population in 2006 to 98 in 2015.

New NCCS

4.         The ground-breaking of this new NCCS today marks yet another important milestone for cancer care in Singapore and this region. The new NCCS will be a comprehensive one-stop Centre, with its doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, working together as a team to provide multi-disciplinary and holistic care to our patients.  NCCS will continue to explore new technologies and treatment modalities to further improve cancer care.

5.         For instance, NCCS, together with the other public healthcare institutions, will research into the full extent of the clinical benefits of proton therapy as compared to conventional radiotherapy.

6.         MOH will closely monitor developments in this field. We will work with NCCS and with members of the broader professional community to ensure that new technologies such as proton therapy will be used appropriately and safely.  We will also be assessing the effectiveness of this therapy compared to existing tried and tested modes of treatment, in terms of delivering long-term patient outcomes, the side effects, and the cost-effectiveness, in order to determine which cancers it should be used to treat.

Cancer Prevention

7         Ultimately, prevention is better than cure.  MOH will step up its efforts to promote early detection and screening, and encourage citizens to adopt a healthy lifestyle to prevent diseases including cancer. From 1st September this year, MOH will enhance Government subsidies for the HPB’s Screen for Life programme at Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) clinics to encourage more Singaporeans to come forward for selected cancer screening such as colorectal and cervical cancers, and follow-up with their primary care doctors where appropriate.

8.         I am pleased that NCCS is also stepping up its community outreach through workshops and exhibitions in the heartlands. Last year, the NCCS Cancer Education and Information Service reached out to more than 120,000 participants while its Cancer Helpline received close to 7,000 calls. The Cancer Education Bus, a project supported by the Ain Society, has also been making its rounds in the community almost every weekend. 

9.         NCCS will do more to support cancer prevention and it has set up a new Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Health (CPPH) for this purpose. It will focus on three core areas: Cancer Genomics, Epidemiology as well as Screening and Control.  The Division will research into ways to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality by investigating cancer causes and risk factors, including the identification of genetic risk factors, biological, environmental, and behavioural modifiers, and conducting clinical and community-based intervention studies in targeted populations.  

Conclusion

10.       To conclude, let me congratulate NCCS on the ground-breaking of this new NCCS building today. I would also like to thank the team for making this possible, Mr Goh Cheng Liang and the Goh Foundation for their generous donation to NCCS and continued support to advance cancer care. I am confident that when completed, NCCS will be able to continue to provide quality care to our cancer patients.

Thank you.

^[1] Taken from MOH Principal Causes of Death from E&DC

^[2] Taken from Cancer Registry Annual Report from HI