Tag Archives: Private Hospitals

Are our hospitals really backward? Private hospitals do not accept sponsorships or payments from infant formula milk makers to offer their brands to new mothers but allow them to sponsor activities which educate patients on baby care and nutrition. What is the total sum in dollar terms of all the milk powder companies’ activities in all the hospitals? One source told me that an estimate may be close to $10 million a year. Furthermore, none of the private hospitals offering maternity services has obtained BFHI certification. In view of the above information – why is a world class healthcare nation like Singapore, arguably, so backward in this regard? Transparency please?

Who are the middle men of these aggressive marketing? Why, the private hospitals, of course! The manufacturers sponsored the hospitals in order for them to carry their products. This is in line with the perception that what the hospital recommends for the baby is what parents will buy and stick to. Thus, by pushing their products on to the hospitals, the manufacturers can ensure a steady stream of parents buying the milk powder, because, after all, what the hospitals recommend are always good for the baby. Private hospitals must also do their public duty, and that is not to particularly push one milk powder over another, just because there is financial gains at the end of the day for the hospitals.

Recently, PAP MP Seah Kian Peng, who is also the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and CEO of NTUC Fairprice Co-op, was admitted to a hospital for an emergency operation to remove his gall bladder as it was swollen and on the verge of bursting. If I am not mistaken, looking at the furnishing and uniform of the staff, he went for the operation at a private hospital. I wonder if an average Singaporean is able to afford what Mr Seah did when faced with a similar situation? How much does it costs? And, as a public servant, is Mr Seah saying he is also not confident of public health care in such an emergency?