The Singapore International Foundation (SIF) and SingHealth, which is the largest group of public health care institutions in Singapore, are keen for collaborative arrangement with Tamil Nadu to raise the standards of medical care for mutual benefit.
The SIF and SingHealth are keen on training health care professionals in a diverse range of health care disciplines such as maternal, child healthcare, and allied health services, said Anette S. Jacobsen, Senior Consultant Paediatric Surgeon, K.K. Women’s and Children’s Hospital, SingHealth.
She was part of a team from Singapore that visited the Mahatma Gandhi Government Hospital on Monday to study health care delivery and the functioning of the public hospital.
She said that the SIF and SingHealth had implemented several projects in different countries, including Cambodia and Indonesia on improving the health care services.
A large number of medical professionals, including doctors and nurses of Singapore, had taken part in the projects and imparted training to the targeted health care professionals.
It had mutually benefitted the partnering countries on improving the standard of medical services.
Claiming that Singapore was credited with almost zero per cent infant mortality rate, Ms. Jacobson said the SIF and SingHealth were inclined to share the knowledge and expertise on mother and child care, neonatal care, and other aspects of health care with the public health institutions run by the Tamil Nadu government.
The medical professionals could be equipped with enhanced skills to train their peers.
The main objective would be to reduce infant mortality rate to a great extent.
Vijaya Rao, Senior Director, Programme Development, SinghHealth, said the collaborative programme could be mutually beneficial to the healthcare professionals of Tamil Nadu in India and Singapore.
Professionals and volunteers could be sent to Tamil Nadu to train the needy persons.
Similarly, medical professionals from Tamil Nadu could make a visit to Singapore to share knowledge and experience.
Margeret Thevarakom, Director, Adrian Chil Kwel Peo, Deputy Director, and Elaine Ng, Manager, International Volunteerism, were among the team members that visited the hospital.
They held a discussion with P. Karkuzhali, Dean, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital.
