SPEECH BY MR S ISWARAN, MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY (INDUSTRY), AT THE ASIA PACIFIC MEDTECH FORUM GALA DINNER 2015, 10 DECEMBER 2015, 8.00PM AT FLOWER FIELD HALL, GARDENS BY THE BAY

 

Mr. Vladimir Makatsaria, Chairman of the Asia Pacific Medical Technology Association,

 

Distinguished Guests,

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Introduction

 

Good evening.  Thank you for inviting me to your inaugural Asia Pacific MedTech Forum Gala Dinner.  To our guests from abroad, a very warm welcome to Singapore.

 

Increasing Demand for Healthcare Products and Solutions in Asia Pacific

 

The APAC MedTech conference is the first of its kind to be held in Asia that brings together industry executives, regulators, healthcare professionals and academia, to jointly shape the future of healthcare in the region.  The breadth of participation at this conference demonstrates the increasing importance of Asia Pacific as a growth market for the MedTech industry.

 

The United Nations estimates that Asia now accounts for 60 per cent of the world’s population.  Despite its fast growth, Asia’s population will age significantly over the next few decades.  In fact, the percentage of Asia’s population aged 60 or over is expected to double from 12 per cent to 25 per cent by 2050.  In tandem with this demographic, there will be an increase in demand for healthcare products and solutions in the Asia Pacific region.  Singapore’s MedTech sector is well-positioned to serve that growing need.   

 

More companies intend to establish manufacturing, research and development, and commercial headquarters activities in the Asia Pacific to support their expansion plans.  This, in turn, has catalysed the growth of a thriving MedTech cluster in Singapore.  The output of Singapore’s MedTech manufacturing sector has more than tripled from S$1.5 billion to S$5.5 billion since 2000.  Over the same period, Singapore’s Medtech manufacturing workforce also more than doubled from 4,000 to 10,000 employees.

 

Beyond manufacturing, companies are also creating and commercialising different types of devices for the region from Singapore.  Today, there are about 25 R&D centres and close to 50 regional headquarters of leading MedTech firms in Singapore.  Our MedTech eco-system comprises firms working on a diverse range of devices such as diagnostic and life science tools, medical supplies, hospital equipment, ophthalmic lenses and implants.

 

With the confluence of growing market opportunity and heightened business interest in the coming years, Singapore will continue to deepen our partnership with industry and other stakeholders in the healthcare sector to support their growing needs and expansion in the region.

 

Singapore’s role in raising the standard of care for patients through better access, innovation and collaborations

 

This conference’s focus on raising the standard of care for patients through better access, innovation and collaborations is most relevant and should be at the heart of any healthcare system.  Indeed, that is the emphasis of Singapore’s own efforts to serve the evolving healthcare needs of our population. 

 

Improving Access for Patients

 

Singapore will continue to make significant investments in infrastructure and manpower to ensure healthcare remains accessible for patients.  For instance, we have expanded the number of healthcare professionals in Singapore by 9,000 between 2011 and 2014.  Based on our projections, we will need to grow our healthcare professional workforce by 50 per cent, or about 20,000 more, between 2011 and 2020.  We will also be adding at least 1,700 acute beds and doubling the number of community hospital beds to 3,000 by 2020. 

 

Beyond the hospital clusters, Singapore will also invest in primary care infrastructure such as polyclinics, Family Medicine Centres and Community Health Centres.  These will support new models of integrated team-based care targeted at patient populations with chronic diseases.

 

Further, as part of our vision for Singapore to be a Smart Nation, we will invest in digital technologies to support our healthcare sector.  In particular, we are studying the scope and opportunities for IT and other digital tools to enable the delivery of better and seamless care across the care continuum, as well as targeted interventions for improved healthcare outcomes for our citizens.

 

Innovation

 

Besides ensuring accessibility, innovation plays a major role in supporting the delivery of best-in-class and affordable healthcare to patients across the region.  In that regard, MedTech companies based in Singapore have taken significant steps to develop devices for the Asian market.

 

For example, Becton Dickinson is developing the Odon device in Singapore.  The Odon device is a novel instrument designed to address maternal and newborn deaths associated with obstructed labour.  Optimised for resource-poor settings, the low-cost Odon device is designed for use by caregivers with minimal training.  This is especially useful for emerging markets in the Asia Pacific which have a high incidence of maternal and newborn mortalities.  This device is a compelling example of how product innovation can address unmet needs in the region and have a profound impact on the standard of care and quality of life.

 

There are also promising companies emerging from our growing start-up ecosystem.  Endomaster, a local company, has developed a minimally invasive robotic-assisted surgical system for endoscopic surgery.  Founded by two Singapore academics from our local universities, Endomaster is in the process of commercializing its solution with the aid of investments from key partners such as the Hoya Group.

 

Besides product innovation, companies are also adopting new business models to address healthcare delivery challenges in Asia Pacific’s rapidly growing markets.  For example, Medtronic’s Global Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Business Model Innovation in Singapore is responsible for designing, testing and scaling new business models that address market-specific needs and barriers in the region.  Specifically, the team in Singapore developed an innovative programme called the Health Heart for All (HHFA) initiative, which provides screening camps, patient education and financing schemes.  Launched in 2010, the program has been rolled out in 30 cities and treated over 12,000 patients.

 

Collaborations

 

An open innovation culture and productive collaborations between stakeholders in the public and private sectors are key to sustaining our innovation capacity and driving improvements in the standard of care.  To this end, Singapore has created ‘living labs’ for companies to partner local healthcare providers to co-innovate and pilot new products and solutions for the benefit of patients.

 

In 2014, Singapore’s Eastern Health Alliance and Changi General Hospital partnered Philips Healthcare to co-develop and pilot the first telehealth programme for Heart Failure patients in Singapore.  This pilot aims to help patients improve the management of their condition and reduce the risk of hospitalisation through the integration of tele-monitoring, tele-education and tele-care.  Besides benefiting patients, such collaborations enable companies to create solution blueprints that can be scaled to the rest of the region and drive top-line growth.

 

Singapore has also established other collaborative platforms such as The Centre for Healthcare Assistive and Robotics Technology (CHART) at Changi General Hospital.  This platform will enable healthcare professionals to work closely with academia, industry and research institutions to develop impactful solutions that harness robotics and assistive technology.

 

Conclusion

 

In conclusion, I would like to thank APACMed for hosting this conference in Singapore, bringing together key stakeholders to engage in a substantive dialogue on improving the standard of care for patients.  Your timing is propitious given the growth of Asia and its unmet healthcare needs.  Singapore will continue to seek to play a key role in this fast-growing industry by providing better access to healthcare, supporting the innovation of new products and business models, as well as fostering partnerships and collaborations between stakeholders in the public and private sectors. 

 

I wish you a fruitful conference.  Thank you.