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Source:
www.moh.gov.sg |
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Public Consultation on
Proposed Amendments to the Infectious Diseases Act |
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The Infectious Diseases Act (IDA) is the
principal piece of public health legislation that deals with the
prevention and control of infectious diseases in Singapore. |
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It is jointly administered by the Ministry
of Health (MOH) and the National Environment Agency (NEA). |
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The IDA has undergone several amendments
over the years to keep up with the trends of outbreaks and the emergence
of new infectious diseases. |
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The IDA was last amended in 2003 in the
middle of SARS to incorporate provisions to deal with the outbreak in
Singapore. |
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Some gaps in our public health response
system were identified from the SARS experience. Beyond that, the
experience of planning and preparing for a possible influenza pandemic
have highlighted the need for MOH to have the further powers to deal
with public health emergencies. |
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In addition, there is a need to revise
existing public health laws to achieve better control and prevention of
HIV/AIDS. |
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The Ministry of Health is therefore
proposing to amend the IDA to strengthen our capabilities to respond
effectively to outbreaks that may be more serious and devastating than
SARS. |
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The amendments would provide MOH with the
legal powers necessary to ensure that public health measures can be
implemented in a timely and effective way. |
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MOH will conduct a 6-week public
consultation (28 September to 9 November 2007) to obtain feedback on the
proposed amendments. The main amendments are summarized below. Please
refer to the Public Consultation Paper for more details. |
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PROPOSED KEY REVISIONS TO
INFECTIOUS DISEASES ACT |
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(i) Public Health Surveillance |
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New infectious diseases like SARS, avian
influenza and Nipah, and old diseases that are now resistant to treatment
like Extensively Drug Resistant TB (XDR-TB) will continue to pose threats
to the public health well-being of Singaporeans. |
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The increase in volume of international travel
has also made it easier for infectious diseases to be transmitted from one
country to another. |
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In order to avert outbreaks of such
diseases in Singapore, it is important to have in place a strong
and robust public health surveillance system which is able to
track and detect cases of such infectious diseases before the
disease spreads to the general population. |
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We would also need to have information on
the factors within the population that may promote the introduction and
spread of the disease. |
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Leftover samples (e.g. blood) generated in
the course of routine medical care in hospitals will be an invaluable
source of information on the prevalence or incidence of an infectious
disease in Singapore. |
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Such information can be used to determine
the level of immunity of the population, and identify groups which may
be particularly vulnerable to an infectious disease outbreak. |
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Therefore, we propose to amend the IDA to
empower the Director of Medical Services (DMS) to obtain left-over
samples, and send them for the tests and examinations for the purpose of
monitoring the infectious disease situation in Singapore. |
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This will also help MOH to draw up necessary
policies, programmes and action plans to protect Singapore from
infectious disease outbreaks. |
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(ii) Closure of premises responsible
for outbreaks |
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The IDA presently empowers the DMS to close
any food establishment that is suspected to be the source or is
responsible for the transmission of an infectious disease. |
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The Ministry proposes to expand the IDA to
empower DMS to close any premises as non-food establishments may also be
the source of an outbreak. |
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The DMS may also require the owner or
occupier of such premises to clean and disinfect his premises. The DMS
will impose such requirements only as a last resort, and for not longer
than necessary. In addition, a person who is aggrieved by an order or
requirement of the Director may, within 7 days, appeal to the Minister. |
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(iii) Obtaining information from
patients |
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Early recognition and isolation of infected
persons is necessary in order to effectively prevent and control
infectious disease outbreaks. |
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In order to achieve early detection and
isolation during SARS, medical practitioners were required to obtain
from patients who had fever, information on recent overseas trips or
exposure to other affected patients. This was done so that suspect cases
of SARS could be isolated without delay, thereby minimizing the risk of
transmission. |
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We propose to amend the IDA so that when
required, the DMS may require medical practitioners as well as other
categories of health care workers (e.g. TCM practitioners, dentists,
pharmacists, etc.) to obtain disease related information from their
patients. This is because an infected person may approach other health
care professionals for treatment during an outbreak. |
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More..... |
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Source:
www.moh.gov.sg Press Release
28 Sep 2007 |
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FrontPage Edition: Sun 7 October 2007
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