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Tag: Paul Tambyah

  • About 100 Gather To Protest Against Water Price Hike At Hong Lim Park

    About 100 Gather To Protest Against Water Price Hike At Hong Lim Park

    The upcoming rise in water prices saw about 100 people turn up at Hong Lim Park on Saturday (March 11) to protest the move.

    A heavy downpour dampened the start of the protest, which began half an hour behind schedule as people took refuge from the rain and initial speakers sheltered under an umbrella when on stage.

    Speakers criticised the Government’s explanation that the cost of producing water has risen and investments need to be made in water infrastructure.

    The hike was announced in the Budget last month and will take effect in two phases, starting July.

    The rally was organised by former Reform Party candidate in the 2015 general election Gilbert Goh, a career counsellor.

    Former Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) candidate Paul Tambyah, an infectious diseases specialist, criticised the timing of the hike at a time of “economic hardship”.

    He and several others cited comments by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan in August 2015, when he led the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR).

    The minister had said labour and equipment costs had risen since the water price was last raised in 2000, but there were also improvements in membrane technology and productivity – and given the state of technology and energy prices, there was no need for a price adjustment at that point.

    On Saturday, Dr Tambyah asked what had changed since then, noting that Singapore’s per capita water consumption had gone down.

    “Is it (the hike) because of the massive population increase?” he said.

    Financial adviser Leong Sze Hian said the Government’s reasons for the hike “did not hold water”.

    The 10 speakers spoke on a small stage decorated with buckets and placards with slogans such as “Pay Until Broke”, a play on the initials of national water agency PUB.

    They sought more transparency and criticised MEWR minister Masagos Zulkifli’s comments in Parliament that he could not disclose details of how the price was computed due to commercial sensitivities.

    Ms Irene Mortensen spoke on the evils of fluoride in tap water.

    Others, who included National Solidarity Party secretary-general Lim Tean and ex-presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian, touched on CPF, living costs, and foreigners.

     

    Source: ST

  • NUH Recalls 178 Children For TB Test

    NUH Recalls 178 Children For TB Test

    The National University Hospital (NUH) is recalling 178 paediatric patients – including 131 under the age of two years – who had been cared for by a nurse now confirmed to have tuberculosis.

    They include 34 children who have received a transplanted organ. These children are on immunosuppression drugs and therefore at higher risk than normal children.

    Associate Professor Daniel Goh, head of paediatrics at NUH, said the risk of any of the children contracting TB from the nurse is “very low”, especially as she had donned a mask while working.

    But the hospital is not taking any chances and is recalling patients who had been in ward 47 since July.

    The nurse was treated at a GP clinic for her cough in July, but despite having a chest X-ray, was not diagnosed with TB. She was given antibiotics and seemed to get better.

    But the cough persisted, and last Wednesday she sought treatment again and was given a CT scan which showed a possible TB patch in her lung the size of a 50-cent coin. She told the hospital on the same day and was tested for TB. Last Friday, the results confirmed she had TB.

    Fortunately, it is the normal and not multi-drug-resistant variety.

    Dr Goh said his team spent the weekend trawling through the patient database to identify patients who might have had long exposure to her while warded, as well as those who are deemed at higher risk because of their age or disease.

    Mr Joe Sim, NUH’s chief executive officer, said: “We fully understand the anxiety of the parents and are taking this matter seriously.”

    Professor Paul Tambyah , a senior infectious disease expert at NUH, said TB transmission depends on the amount of exposure, the bacterial load of the carrier and the individual’s immune system.

    He said there is a one in 10 chance of people getting the bug if a person with TB coughs at them for two hours. Of those who get the bacteria, one in 10 would get the disease in his lifetime. This doubles for those with low immunity.

    The first patients were at NUH for screening on Tuesday and more will be screened over the coming weeks.

    They will have a chest X-ray to check for TB, and blood tests if aged five or older, and/or skin tests to see if they have the bug latent in them.

    Any child diagnosed to have caught the latent bug will be given treatment, which has a greater than 90 per cent chance of preventing TB. For those with TB, chances of a cure are very high with treatment.

    Madam Crystal Lim, 28, whose two-year-old son was in ward 47 for three weeks in August, was shocked when his doctor called to ask her to bring her son back for tests.

    Her son had a liver transplant in October last year, but was back in hospital for treatment for a 3cm abscess on his buttocks. The doctor had explained that because of his transplant, he was at a higher risk.

    She is worried, but not angry.

    “I would be angry if the hospital did not do anything and the patients started getting TB. But they are doing something,” she said.

    As for the nurse, Madam Lim said: “She did not do it purposely. All the nurses look after the children very well. I hope the doctors can help her get well.”

    The nurse, who is on medical leave for two weeks, will be able to resume work as being on treatment means she is not contagious. Her colleagues in the ward have all been tested and found negative.

    So far this year, 1,252 new TB cases have been diagnosed in Singapore.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com