logo
Forum: Singapore's outsized influence in healthcare, even as a colony

Forum: Singapore's outsized influence in healthcare, even as a colony

Straits Times10-06-2025
As a heritage practitioner, I am excited to hear about Singapore Land Authority's (SLA) plans to revitalise 2 Moulmein Road into a lifestyle destination (Former Communicable Disease Centre in Moulmein Road put up for use as lifestyle hub, May 30, 2025).
The former Communicable Disease Centre (CDC) site is known colloquially as 'or sai' (black lion in the Hokkien dialect), named after the emblem of Middleton Hospital, Singapore's first infectious disease hospital established in 1913. It evolved into the CDC in 1992, following a merger between Middleton and Tan Tock Seng hospitals in 1985.
The National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) took over the CDC's functions in 2018, ceasing the latter's continuous operations after 111 years.
This long history meant many architecturally significant structures, including the remaining pavilion 'Nightingale' wards designed by municipal engineer and later prominent Swan and Maclaren partner D.M. Craik, were maintained for over a century. It also draws a link to 'Lady with the Lamp' Florence Nightingale, whose radical ideas on caring for wounded soldiers in the Crimean War (1854) and Indian Rebellion (1857) made a huge impact on British and colonial hospital design.
Pavilions are rectangular, open-plan wards that made it easy for nurses to monitor patients. They also have large windows to let in fresh air and light. This challenged pre-19th century belief that bad air, or 'miasma', spread disease and was prevented from entering wards, resulting in gloomy spaces.
Furthermore, the site played an outsized role in tracking epidemics during colonial days. We are familiar with Singapore's post-independence fight against infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, Sars and most recently, Covid-19. However, not many knew the League of Nations Health Organisation (LNHO) established its Eastern Bureau here in 1925.
Due to its global significance as a transshipment hub, the first international system to report and distribute information on infectious diseases was broadcast from Singapore via wireless radio and telegraph. These reports contained news on cholera, smallpox, typhoid and other diseases, as well as information on everything from quarantine arrangements to the health of haj pilgrims .
Without a doubt, colonial healthcare and quarantine facilities at Middleton Hospital and St John's Island played an important role in monitoring travellers carrying infectious diseases through Singapore. This function enabled port authorities worldwide to reduce the spread of outbreaks.
From an architectural and historical perspective, it is important for the revitalised site to capture and showcase these significant stories and more.
Ian Tan
More on this Topic Forum: What readers are saying
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

AstraZeneca vows to spend US$50 billion on US manufacturing, development
AstraZeneca vows to spend US$50 billion on US manufacturing, development

Business Times

time3 days ago

  • Business Times

AstraZeneca vows to spend US$50 billion on US manufacturing, development

[MUNICH/WASHINGTON] AstraZeneca plans to invest US$50 billion in the US before 2030, becoming the latest European pharma company to ratchet up spending in the country ahead of potential tariffs on imported medicines. The investment will go towards manufacturing as well as research and development, Astra said in a statement. It includes US$4 billion for a new facility in Virginia that will make drugs for chronic diseases, Kevin Hassett, director of the US National Economic Council, said on Monday (Jul 21) at an event in Washington, DC. 'With the completion of this investment, substantially all of AstraZeneca's pharmaceuticals sold at the United States will be produced in the United States,' Hassett said. Astra's announcement comes as European drug companies rush to highlight their significant footprints in the US in hopes of mitigating the impact of any potential tariffs from US President Donald Trump. Astra already announced plans in November, a week after Trump's election, to invest US$3.5 billion in the US by the end of 2026, noting at the time that it employs nearly 18,000 people in the country. Since then, European competitors have touted even larger spending plans. Switzerland's Novartis in April announced plans for US$23 billion in US-based infrastructure spending, while cross-town rival Roche Holding said it would invest US$50 billion. In May, French drugmaker Sanofi announced intent to invest at least US$20 billion in the US by 2030. Pascal Soriot, who's been chief executive officer of Astra since 2012, has also urged tariff restraint. This spring, he recommended that US officials exempt medicines from tariffs, arguing that tax incentives are a better way to attract investment in drug development and manufacturing. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Trump has proposed various timelines for tariffs on pharmaceuticals, most recently floating duties that would be imposed as soon as Aug 1. The president said that he expects to give companies a year to bring manufacturing to the US before imposing tariffs as high as 200 per cent. Meanwhile, Soriot has raised concerns in the UK about his commitment to the home country. He has long complained about the UK's regulatory environment, which he says is a threat to hold back the UK from staying competitive with the US and China. In January, Astra abandoned plans for a £450 million (S$777 million) vaccine manufacturing plant in Liverpool. The company operates 17 manufacturing sites in 12 US states. Earlier this month, British paper The Times reported that Soriot is considering moving the company's stock listing to the US. That would be a major blow to the UK's equity markets, which have endured similar defections from other companies in recent years. Under Soriot's leadership, Astra's market value has more than tripled as the company has become a global powerhouse in cancer medicines. It's also built up a significant drug pipeline for other areas including cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases. BLOOMBERG

Britain battles anti-vax misinformation after child's death
Britain battles anti-vax misinformation after child's death

Straits Times

time3 days ago

  • Straits Times

Britain battles anti-vax misinformation after child's death

Find out what's new on ST website and app. A British influencer with more than 200,000 followers on Instagram posted a video denying the child died from measles. LONDON - A child's death from measles has sparked urgent calls from British public health officials to get children vaccinated, as the UK faces an onslaught of misinformation on social media, much of it from the United States. Measles is a highly infectious disease that can cause serious complications. It is preventable through double MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) jabs in early childhood. Health Secretary Wes Streeting on July 14 confirmed to parliament that a child had died in the UK of measles. No details have been released, but British news outlets The Sunday Times and Liverpool Echo reported the child had been severely ill with measles and other serious health problems in Alder Hey hospital in the north-western city of Liverpool. Anti-vaxxers quickly posted unconfirmed claims about the death on social media. One British influencer, Ms Ellie Grey, who has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, posted a video denying the child died from measles. 'Measles isn't this deadly disease... it's not dangerous,' she said. Ms Grey criticised Alder Hey hospital for posting a video 'really, really pushing and manipulating parents into getting the MMR vaccine'. Her video was reposted by another British influencer, Ms Kate Shemirani, a struck-off ex-nurse who posts health conspiracy theories. 'No vaccine has ever been proven safe and no vaccine has ever been proven effective,' Ms Shemirani claimed falsely. Liverpool's public health chief Matthew Ashton attacked those 'spreading misinformation and disinformation about childhood immunisations' in the Echo newspaper, saying 'they need to take a very long, hard look at themselves '. 'For those of you that don't know, measles is a really nasty virus,' he said in a video, adding that the jab is a way of 'protecting yourself and your loved ones'. Alder Hey hospital said it has treated 17 children with measles since June 2025 . It posted a video in which a paediatric infectious diseases consultant Andrew McArdle, addresses measles 'myths', including that the MMR jab causes autism. This false claim comes from a debunked 1998 study by a British doctor Andrew Wakefield, who was later struck off. But it sparked an international slump in vaccinations. 'Lingering questions' Dr Benjamin Kasstan-Dabush, a medical anthropologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told AFP there are still 'lingering questions around the Wakefield era'. He talked to parents who had delayed vaccinating their children, finding reasons included life events and difficulty getting health appointments, but also misinformation. 'We're obviously talking about a different generation of parents, who might be engaging with that Wakefield legacy through social media, through the internet, and of course through Kennedy,' he said. US President Donald Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr as health secretary despite his promotion of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. Mr Kennedy fired all 17 experts on a key vaccine advisory pane l and appointed a scientist who warned against Covid jabs. In the US , 'misinformation is being produced in the highest echelons of the Trump administration', which 'circulates across the internet', Dr Kasstan-Dabush said. In a sign of how narratives spread, a Telegram group airing conspiracies called Liverpool TPR, which has around 2,000 members, regularly posts links to anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defence once chaired by Mr Kennedy. In the past few weeks the UK Health Security Agency has amplified its social media coverage on vaccinations, a spokesman said. In a video in response to the reported death, Dr Vanessa Saliba, a consultant epidemiologist, explained the MMR jab protects others, including those 'receiving treatment like chemotherapy that can weaken or wipe out their immunity'. Take-up of the MMR jab needs to be 95 per cent for herd immunity, according to the World Health Organisation. The UK has never hit this target. In Liverpool, uptake for both doses is only around 74 per cent and below 50 per cent in some areas, according to Mr Ashton, while the UK rate is 84 per cent . After Mr Wakefield's autism claims, confirmed measles cases topped 2,000 in England and Wales in 2012 before dropping. But in 2024 , cases soared again. The same trend is happening in other countries. Europe in 2024 reported the highest number of cases in over 25 years , and the US has recorded its worst measles epidemic in over 30 years. Canada, which officially eradicated measles in 1998, has registered more than 3,500 cases in 2025 . A Canadian infectious diseases doctor, Alon Vaisman, told AFP: 'You're fighting against the wall of disinformation and lies.' AFP

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store