Speech by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health, at the Official Launch of HealthHub, at the Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG Roadshow, 18 Oct 2015

Residents,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

    I am pleased to join you here today, for the launch of the early release of HealthHub.

Leading a healthy lifestyle

2    Many of us lead very busy lifestyles and are often on the go. Sometimes, we may not realise it but we may have overlooked our health and the health of our loved ones as well. However, it is important that we make a conscious effort to ensure that we stay healthy, so that we can live long and live well.

3    How then can we maintain a healthy lifestyle with our busy schedules? It is not easy but it can be done. You can start by taking small steps to incorporate healthy habits in your daily activities and over time, it will become a natural part of your lifestyle. For example, you can take the stairs instead of taking the lift to increase your physical activity, or cut down on sweetened drinks to improve the quality of your diet.

4    Besides incorporating physical activity and a balanced diet in your lifestyle, you can also stay smoke-free, maintaining mental wellness, go for regular health screenings, as well as the appropriate follow-ups. We can be more proactive in understanding our health status and that of our loved ones, so that we can take ownership of our own  health.

Features of HealthHub

5    With this in mind, I am pleased to launch the early release of HealthHub. Available online at www.healthhub.sg, HealthHub is Singapore’s first one-stop online health information and services portal. It is also available as a free mobile application that can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. HealthHub will provide Singaporeans with easy access to a selected range of localised health and wellness information to encourage the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits and increase health literacy. Together with many other initiatives under the Healthy Living Master Plan, HealthHub will assist in making healthy living as natural and effortless as possible for Singaporeans.

6    HealthHub is a milestone project under MOH’s Health IT Masterplan, or HITMAP in short. Technology can help connect healthcare institutions with one another to provide continuity of care for our patients. Technology can also connect citizens with healthcare institutions, and help empower citizens with information to better manage their health. Through HealthHub, you can access your hospital discharge summary, lab test results for chronic diseases, and future medical appointments with the various public healthcare institutions, all at one location. You can also access the immunisation records, dental health records as well as referral letters of your children. This means that you can be more aware of your health status and that of your children’s. Having convenient access to such information is a step towards helping you make decisions such as how you can take better control and better care of your health and encourage your children to lead a healthier lifestyle.

7    To encourage everyone to live more healthily, you can also read about various health topics available on HealthHub. If you share these articles on social media, you will be able to earn and accumulate reward points, known as Healthpoints. These can be converted to rewards such as NTUC LinkPoints, which can be used to offset grocery bills, redeem vouchers and other deals offered by participating store.

8    I would like to strongly encourage everyone to visit the HealthHub portal or download the HealthHub application and sign up as a user. Help us spread the word. Good things are worth sharing!

Conclusion

9    This version of HealthHub is the early release version. That means that it is not perfect but the portal and mobile application will be continually enhanced over time. We are looking at providing Singaporeans with more health-related content, key medical records and e-services. This is part of the drive towards being a Smart Nation, having data that empowers everyone to make informed decisions that improves your lives. We welcome your feedback and suggestions on how we can co-create and improve the content and features of the HealthHub experience.

10    In conclusion, I would like to commend the team that developed HealthHub. They have worked very hard to bring this early release to fruition. It is my hope that everyone will visit, use and co-create HealthHub to make this a relevant and useful tool for healthy living for all Singaporeans. Thank you and have a great day ahead of you.