THE UNITED KINGDOM AND SINGAPORE STRENGTHEN HEALTHCARE COLLABORATION WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM-SINGAPORE HEALTH DIALOGUE

        The inaugural United Kingdom (UK)-Singapore Health Dialogue was held in London, United Kingdom on 3 December 2025. This is a platform for officials from the UK and Singapore to discuss mutual areas of interest in healthcare.

2        Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Health and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, and    Mr Wes Streeting, UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, delivered the opening addresses for the Dialogue. The two leaders reaffirmed the close relationship between Singapore and the UK, and exchanged views on the shared health challenges both countries face and opportunities to learn from each other.

3        In his opening address, Mr Ong spoke about existing areas of healthcare partnership between Singapore and the UK, such as in education and research, and the potential opportunities to further deepen collaborations between both countries, especially in healthcare innovation and translation.

4        The Health Dialogue discussed population health, mental health, healthcare workforce transformation, and preventive health. Officials from the Ministry of Health shared Singapore’s efforts and initiatives in these areas, including encouraging health and healthcare in the community through Healthier SG and Age Well SG, digital mental health platforms and resources to promote mental health wellbeing, and in precision medicine such as Singapore’s National Precision Medicine programme and genetic testing. UK officials shared knowledge on the UK’s work in prevention of frailty in the elderly, healthcare workforce retention and retraining, and its strategies in genomic medicine.

5        As part of his working trip to London, Mr Ong also visited Appleby Blue Almshouse, which provides supported community-based living for the elderly, and met UK members of the Houses of Parliament to discuss various issues on healthcare.

6       Mr Ong will also be making a working visit to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from 4 to 5 December 2025.