home 쐽 ● THE STRAITS TIMES WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4 2009 PAGE B10

$30m lift for community health care

Charities involved in elderly
and preventive care can seek
help to fund programmes
BY APRIL CHONG
HEALTH-CARE charities involved in either preven-
tive care or care of the elderly will receive a $30 mil-
lion boost over the next two years.
The Singapore Totalisator Board has pledged the
amount for a new community health-care fund
which can be tapped by organisations in these two
areas.
Charities in the preventive care category can get
up to $50,000, or 50 per cent of the cost of health
education and screening programmes. Those deal-
ing with chronic diseases like diabetes and high
blood pressure will be especially targeted, said the
Health Ministry in a press release yesterday.
The second category will be for step-down care
services which deal with the impending wave of
ageing citizens.
One such service is home health care, which can welcomed the extra help.
look to receive funding for up to half its costs. This Dr Mary Ann Tsao, president of the Tsao Founda-
includes home medical, nursing and therapy services, tion, which deals with ageing issues, applauded the
as well as medical equipment and supplies like adult move to support preventive and community care.
diapers. “The focus had always been on acute hospitals.
Programmes that teach patients and their caregiv- Now we’re looking at combining the medical and so-
ers proper care at home, and those promoting active cial services,” she said.
ageing can get up to 70 per cent funding for their The chairman of the Singapore Hospice Council,
costs. Nursing home charities can apply for 80 per Dr Tan Kee Wee, thinks the fund can benefit the
cent funding for the cost of new programmes. eight hospices under its umbrella, and can be used to
The fund will also pay up to $1 million for new in- roll out more training programmes for caregivers in
frastructure which benefits elderly patients. palliative care, as well as to get more nurses and doc-
Most charities The Straits Times spoke to yester- tors to visit patients at home.
day had not yet been told about the new funding, but Dr Tan said: “It is very difficult to take donor mon-
A team from the Singapore branch of Marche – (from left) Mr Venson Bin Kusiang, 30, Mr Jenson Low, 28, and Ms Aileen Loo, 55 –
has perfected a standard crepe recipe that will be used by 107 outlets worldwide. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
Local crepe
recipe
ey especially for publicity or education pro-
grammes.” The fund, he added, was timely.
This injection will also be a boon to community
hospitals with charity status which have been hit by
rising costs, leading to higher charges for patients.
Said a spokesman for the St Andrew’s Community
Hospital: “The fund would probably benefit commu-
nity hospitals, as we do provide home care services.
The additional resources would be useful for improv-
ing the care for the elderly at home.”
The fund is now open for applications, with the clos-
ing date on April 30.More details are available at
www.moh.gov.sg, under the “Forms” link.
aprilc@sph.com.sg
President’s
Challenge
wants more
to help in
downturn
THE President’s Challenge, which cele-
brates its 10th anniversary this year, is
calling on more people and organisa-
tions to reach out to the less fortunate
during the economic downturn.
Said Mr Niam Chiang Meng, com-
mittee chairman for the annual charity
drive: “We hope that individuals and
corporations will continue to step for-
ward and reach out to the disadvan-
taged among us.”
Mr Vijay Iyengar, chairman of the
Singapore Indian Chamber of Com-
merce and Industry, which recently
contributed $50,000 to the cause, ech-
oed this view.
“These are challenging times for
the business community,” he said.
“Nevertheless, we hope that compa-
nies which are doing well will remem-

goes global ber the needy and continue to lend

BY CHERYL ONG
SINGAPORE may not have invent-
ed the crepe, yet European chefs
are flocking here to learn how to
make the French equivalent of a
thin pancake.
The employees of international
restaurant franchise Marche are
taking lessons at its sole Singa-
pore outlet, home to the chain’s
first-ever crepe counter.
The restaurant’s Swiss head-
quarters had tasked the Singapore
branch, located in VivoCity shop-
ping centre, with developing a
standard crepe recipe and guide-
lines on how to manage a crepe
counter that their other 106 out-
lets worldwide might follow.
They invested $250,000 in find-
ing ingredients for the batter,
cheese mixes and fillings.
Marche’s Asia-Pacific general
manager Andrew Towner said
that since last August, the branch
here had trained staff from six
countries, including Germany, In-
donesia and Switzerland.
their support to such causes.”
A series of events and activities has
been planned for this year’s Presi-
dent’s Challenge to raise awareness of
its beneficiaries, as well as allow more
people the opportunity to offer their
time and resources to help the less for-
tunate.
Programmes to look forward to in-
clude the official launch ceremony
next month, as well as the President’s
Star Charity slated for October.
Launched in 2000 by the then new-
ly elected President S R Nathan, the
President’s Challenge is an annual
charity drive that comprises a series of
community activities aimed at direct-
ing public assistance towards the
needy.
Since its initiation, a total of $75
million has been raised for some 400
voluntary welfare organisations in Sin-
gapore.
Already this year, donations have
started rolling in from various corpo-
rate sponsors, including Singapore
Pools and the Management Develop-
ment Institute of Singapore.
Members of the public can visit the
charity drive’s official website at
www.pc.org.sg for more information.
GOH YI HAN