Jill Biden, Ong Ye Kung on women’s healthcare shift

Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who was in conversation with Biden, positioned the nation as a potential reference model for putting solutions into practice.

“Singapore can be that urban environment that will provide that test bed that makes things work,” he said, hoping that the industry would then find gender-specific research and prevention worth investing in.

“Once you’re focused on healthy longevity, you will recognise that women have a bigger challenge because biologically women have… a lot more health vulnerabilities than men,” Ong said.

He said “the tide has changed” and there will be more focus on women’s healthcare in the future.

Ong said that in Singapore, women live to an average age of 84, but spend 12 years in ill health compared with less than 10 years for men.

The panellists also discussed the prevalence of sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss, and that more education is needed to address it.

Translating this need into policy, Ong had said earlier this week that they plan to offer screening tests for osteoporosis and sarcopenia through general practitioner clinics under Singapore’s preventive health programme, Healthier SG. This roll-out ensures that individuals requiring early intervention can be identified.

Once identified, the individuals can be referred to active ageing centres where they can access coaches, fitness training, and weightlifting, without having to sign up for an expensive gym package, he said.

“Preventive health and population health has to be made accessible. It is not in the clinic; it is in the community. It’s in homes,” said Ong.

Besides muscular and bone health, Singapore has also expanded its preventive framework to combat life-threatening hereditary diseases.

The nation will subsidise genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer from December 2026, while allowing MediShield Life and MediSave to offset the costs of risk-reducing surgeries.

These targeted moves align with a broader shift in the country’s healthcare focus towards preventive, predictive and personalised care. Unlike countries where healthcare spending eats up 10% to 17% of gross domestic product, Singapore currently spends roughly 4.5% of its GDP on healthcare. Ong said this gives Singapore the fiscal headroom to split resources between acute hospital care and preventive care.

In closing, Biden urged the audience to do something to move women’s health forward, be it through targeted investments, personal learning or educating others about it.

“Going forward, you know, we can have all these conversations, but we’re going to be remembered is by the changes and the improvements we make now.”