Ministry of Health (Singapore)

{{short description|Government ministry in Singapore}}

{{Use Singapore English|date=July 2020}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

{{Infobox government agency

| agency_name = Ministry of Health

| logo = MOH_Logo.svg

| logo_width = 200px

| logo_caption =

| formed = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1955}}

| preceding1 =

| jurisdiction = Government of Singapore

| motto = Championing a Healthy Nation

| employees = 1,573 (2018){{Cite web |title=MINISTRY OF HEALTH |url=https://www.singaporebudget.gov.sg/docs/default-source/budget_2019/download/pdf/35-MOH-2019.pdf |format=PDF}}

| budget = {{increase}} S$11.72 billion (2019)

| headquarters = 16 College Road, College of Medicine Building, Singapore 169854

| minister1_name = Ong Ye Kung

| minister1_pfo =
Minister & Minister-in-charge of Aging Issues

| minister2_name = Masagos Zulkifli

| minister2_pfo =
Second Minister

| minister3_name = Janil Puthucheary

| minister3_pfo =
Senior Minister of State

| minister4_name = Rahayu Mahzam

| minister4_pfo =
Minister of State

| chief1_name = Chan Yeng Kit

| chief1_position =
Permanent Secretary (Health)

| chief2_name = Ng How Yue

| chief2_position =
Permanent Secretary (Health Development)

| chief3_name = Kenneth Mak

| chief3_position =
Director-General of Health

| parent_agency =

| child1_agency = Health Promotion Board

| child2_agency = Health Sciences Authority

| child3_agency = Singapore Dental Council

| child4_agency = Singapore Medical Council

| child5_agency = Singapore Nursing Board

| child6_agency = Singapore Pharmacy Council

| child7_agency = Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board

| website = {{url|www.moh.gov.sg}}

| agency_id = T08GA0015H

}}

The Ministry of Health (MOH; {{langx|ms|Kementerian Kesihatan}}; {{lang-zh|卫生部}}; {{langx|ta|சுகாதார அமைச்சு}}) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for managing the public healthcare system in Singapore.

Statutory boards

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Ministers

The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Health, who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; border:1px #aaf solid;"
Portrait

!Name
{{small|(Birth–Death)}}

! width="85" | Took office

! width="85" | Left office

! colspan="2" |Party

!Cabinet

rowspan="3" |

| rowspan="3" |A. J. Braga
MP for Katong
(1900–1968)

| rowspan="3" |6 April
1955

| rowspan="3" |3 June
1959

| rowspan="2" style="background:{{party color|Labour Front}};" |

| rowspan="2" |LF

|Marshall

rowspan="2" |Lim
style="background:{{party color|Singapore People's Alliance}};" |

|SPA

|Ahmad Ibrahim
MP for Sembawang
(1927–1962)

|5 June
1959

|24 September
1961

|style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

|PAP

| rowspan="2" |Lee K. I

x150px

|K. M. Byrne
MP for Crawford
(1913–1990)

|24 September
1961

|18 October
1963

|style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

|PAP

133x133px

|Yong Nyuk Lin
MP for Geylang West
(1918–2012)

|19 October
1963

|15 April
1968

|style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

|PAP

|Lee K. II

rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="2" |Chua Sian Chin
MP for MacPherson
(1933–2014)

| rowspan="2" |16 April
1968

| rowspan="2" |1 June
1975

| rowspan="2" style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

| rowspan="2" |PAP

|Lee K. III

rowspan="2" |Lee K. IV
style="height:30px;"

| rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="2" |Toh Chin Chye
MP for Rochore
(1921–2012)

| rowspan="2" |2 June
1975

| rowspan="2" |5 January
1981

| rowspan="2" style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

| rowspan="2" |PAP

Lee K. V
141x141px

|Goh Chok Tong
MP for Marine Parade
(born 1941)

|6 January
1981

|31 May
1982

|style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

|PAP

| rowspan="2" |Lee K. VI

|Howe Yoon Chong
MP for Potong Pasir
(1923–2007)

|1 June
1982

|1 January
1985

|style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

|PAP

131x131px

|Tony Tan
MP for Sembawang
(born 1940)

|2 January
1985

|6 May
1985

|style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

|PAP

| rowspan="3" |Lee K. VII

|Richard Hu
MP for Kreta Ayer
(1926–2023)

|7 May
1985

|31 December
1986

|style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

|PAP

style="height:30px;"

| rowspan="4" |

| rowspan="4" |Yeo Cheow Tong
MP for Hong Kah & Hong Kah GRC
(from 1988)
(born 1947)

| rowspan="4" |1 January
1987

| rowspan="4" |1 January
1994

| rowspan="4" style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

| rowspan="4" |PAP

Lee K. VIII
Goh I
rowspan="2" |Goh II
145x145px

|George Yeo
MP for Aljunied GRC
(born 1954)

|2 January
1994

|24 January
1997

|style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

|PAP

|Yeo Cheow Tong
MP for Hong Kah GRC
(born 1947)

|25 January
1997

|2 June
1999

|style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

|PAP

| rowspan="2" |Goh III

style="height:77px;"

| rowspan="2" |155x155px

| rowspan="2" |Lim Hng Kiang
MP for West Coast GRC
(born 1954)

| rowspan="2" |3 June
1999

| rowspan="2" |31 July
2003

| rowspan="2" style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

| rowspan="2" |PAP

rowspan="2" |Goh IV
style="height:47px;"

| rowspan="3" |143x143px

| rowspan="3" |Khaw Boon Wan
MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC & Sembawang GRC
(from 2006)
(born 1952)
Interim until 11 August 2004

| rowspan="3" |1 August
2003

| rowspan="3" |20 May
2011

| rowspan="3" style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

| rowspan="3" |PAP

Lee H. I
Lee H. II
rowspan="3" |149x149px

| rowspan="3" |Gan Kim Yong{{cite news |last1=Ong |first1=Justin |date=28 September 2015 |title=Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announces Singapore's new Cabinet |publisher=Channel NewsAsia |url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/prime-minister-lee-hsien/2154802.html |url-status=dead |access-date=1 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621143256/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/prime-minister-lee-hsien-loong-announces-singapore-s-new-cabinet-8239284 |archive-date=2018-06-21}}{{Cite web |last=Mahmud |first=Aqil Haziq |date=2020-07-25 |title=PM Lee announces new Cabinet; 6 office holders promoted, 3 retirements |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pm-lee-singapore-new-cabinet-parliament-ge2020-12962844 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725183434/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pm-lee-singapore-new-cabinet-parliament-ge2020-12962844 |archive-date=2020-07-25 |access-date=2020-07-25 |website=CNA |language=en}}
MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC
(born 1959)

| rowspan="3" |21 May
2011

| rowspan="3" |14 May
2021

| rowspan="3" style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

| rowspan="3" |PAP

|Lee H. III

Lee H. IV
rowspan="2" |Lee H. V
rowspan="3" |122x122px

| rowspan="3" |Ong Ye Kung
MP for Sembawang GRC
(born 1969)

| rowspan="3" |15 May
2021

| rowspan="3" |Incumbent

| rowspan="3" style="background:{{party color|People's Action Party}};" |

| rowspan="3" |PAP

|

Wong I

Incidents

= SingHealth data breach (2018) =

{{main|2018 SingHealth data breach}}

Between June and July 2018, personal data of 1.5 million patients was exfiltrated as a result of a cyberattack on SingHealth, which is the largest group of healthcare institutions in Singapore and is wholly owned by MOH.{{Cite news |last=Tham |first=Irene |date=2018-07-20 |title=Personal info of 1.5m SingHealth patients, including PM Lee, stolen in Singapore's worst cyber attack |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/personal-info-of-15m-singhealth-patients-including-pm-lee-stolen-in-singapores-most |access-date=2024-07-14 |work=The Straits Times |language=en |issn=0585-3923}}

= HIV data leak (2019) =

On 28 January 2019, sensitive information including names, identification numbers, phone numbers, addresses and HIV test results of 12,400 HIV-positive people were leaked online due to mishandling of the information by then-staff member, Ler Teck Siang.{{Cite web|title='I am sorry': Gan Kim Yong says health ministry providing support to HIV sufferers affected by data leak|url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/hiv-positive-records-leaked-gan-kim-yong-apologises-11176070|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204010507/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/hiv-positive-records-leaked-gan-kim-yong-apologises-11176070|archive-date=4 February 2019|access-date=2019-03-19|website=Channel NewsAsia}} Ler, who was the head of National Public Health Unit at MOH at the time, had access to the information and had not complied comply with Ministry of Health's security guidelines. Ler downloaded the information on to a personal thumb drive, which his then-boyfriend Mikhy K Farrera Brochez had leaked online subsequently.{{Cite web|date=2019-03-09|title=HIV data leak: Mikhy Farrera-Brochez slapped with 3 charges by US grand jury|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/mikhy-farrera-brochez-indicted-by-grand-jury-on-three-counts|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311025135/https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/mikhy-farrera-brochez-indicted-by-grand-jury-on-three-counts|archive-date=11 March 2019|access-date=2019-03-19|website=The Straits Times}} Minister of Health, Gan Kim Yong, explained that data leak had not been announced earlier, so as to safeguard the patients' well-being.{{Cite web|title=Gan Kim Yong explains why HIV Registry leak was not disclosed earlier, apologises once more|url=https://mothership.sg/2019/02/gan-kim-yong-statement-hiv-data-leak-apology/|website=mothership.sg}}{{cite web |title=Statement by Minister (Health) Mr Gan Kim Yong on the Unauthorised Possession and Disclosure of Information from HIV Registry |url=https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/statement-by-minister-(health)-mr-gan-kim-yong-on-the-unauthorised-possession-and-disclosure-of-information-from-hiv-registry |website=Ministry of Health |access-date=17 November 2021 |date=12 February 2019}}

= Community Health Assist Scheme computer system error (2019) =

On 16 February 2019, MOH released a public statement admitting that there had been an error in computer systems managed by NCS that were used in relation to the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS). The error resulted in a miscalculation of the amount of health care subsidies applicants were eligible to receive through means-testing, such that approximately 1,300 people received lower subsidies and 6,400 people received higher subsidies.

The first discrepancy in a result of a CHAS card holder was detected on 24 September 2018 by MOH. NCS was informed immediately. NCS had initially attributed the issue to intermittent network connection problems. Between 9 October 2018 and 2 November 2018, another 5 more cases involving discrepancies were detected, prompting the launch of a more in-depth investigation. In November 2018, NCS traced the cause of the discrepancies to a software version issue used on a server used by the system. The identified issue occurred during a migration of the system to another government data center in September 2018. The software version issue was resolved as part of other changes made to address an unrelated performance issue on 10 October 2018. However, incorrect results that had been generated between 18 September 2018 and 10 October 2018 remained in the system.

Remedial actions were then carried out by MOH and NCS to assess impact on the affected applicants. MOH announced that it would work with grant scheme administrators and healthcare institutions to follow up with notifications and reimbursement to the affected applicants. According to media reports, MOH intended to recover costs and expenses arising from this incident from NCS as MOH was entitled to pursuant to the contract between the parties.{{Cite web |last=Ng |first=Huiwen |date=16 February 2019 |title=Chas subsidies for about 7,700 people miscalculated due to IT error: MOH |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/chas-subsidies-for-about-7700-people-miscalculated-due-to-it-error-moh |access-date=2 March 2020 |website=The Straits Times |language=en}}

See also

References

{{reflist}}