| Fact
Sheet
My
Happy Healthy Family
A Public Education Initiative
October 2005 - January 2006
‘My
Happy Healthy Family’ is a joint initiative
by the Singapore Cancer Society and the Singapore
Heart Foundation, and sponsored by Novartis. The
programme is aimed at enhancing the public’s
awareness of the link between family history and
Singapore’s top two killer diseases, especially
for those with family members who may have the
diseases.
Collectively,
cancer and cardiovascular disease have accounted
for some 59.9% of all deaths in Singapore due
to diseases in 2004.
Programme Details
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Special
editorial focus on national newspapers to
educate public on cancer and heart diseases,
and the link between family history and risk. |
|
A
general practitioner continuing medical education
symposium on October 15 2005, held in partnership
with a leading hospital. The symposium is
to help doctors enhance their skills at counseling
families at risk of getting heart disease
and teaching them to detect early symptoms
of the disease. |
|
In
partnership with the Singapore Heart Foundation,
Novartis launched the ‘BP OK’
programme last month (late Aug 2005). A year-long
programme, the ‘BP OK’ initiative
is designed to help general practitioners
(GPs) better manage their patients compliance
to best achieve target blood pressure targets.
Many patients with high blood pressure do
not achieve their blood pressure targets as
they do not follow their medication schedule
correctly. The initiative is devised to help
GPs improve the patient compliance with systematic
and timely checks upon the registered patient.
The initiative also aims to collect key clinical
data for the establishment of a ‘BP
OK Compliance Registry’ that will be
managed by an advisory panel, headed by Dr
Low Lip Ping, Chairman SHF. |
|
Free
health screening for heart diseases at some
36 participating clinics across Singapore,
from November 7 –18, 2005. |
|
Free
cancer screening for the three leading killer
cancers -- breast cancer, cervical cancer
and colorectal cancer—at Singapore Cancer
Society’s two clinics located at 15
Enggor Street and Block 22 Boon Keng Road
#01-1. For more information, please visit
www.singaporecancersociety.com.sg, (see “Get
Screened – For Free”) |
|
A
public education brochure and website. Includes
information on cancer and heart disease, symptoms
to look out for, link between family history
and risk, and a “risk assessment’
checklist. There is also a family tree to
help children and families chart their family
history across four generations to find out
the incidence of cancer and heart disease
in their family. |
|
|
The
Singapore Heart Foundation has included two
of its key programmes into My Happy Healthy
Family patient education initiative. These
are: |
|
‘Jump
Rope for Heart’
A heart educational and rope skipping
health promotion programme for primary
school students which hopes to raise
awareness amongst schools on health
and the fun benefit of rope skipping
on the students' cardiovascular fitness.
It is Singapore's first organised educational
programme that focuses on the heart.
The programme now features a fun ‘internet
gaming’ option. Since its inception
in 1999, about 50,000 students from
50 schools have benefited from the programme.
For more information on ‘Jump
Rope for Heart’, please visit
www.myheart.org.sg/jrfh
|
‘Go
Red for Women’
A women’s health initiative by
the World Heart Federation (WHF) and
adopted by the Singapore Heart Foundation
(SHF). According to the WHF, cardiovascular
disease is the world’s number
one killer among women. In Singapore,
one out of every five women dies of
heart-related disease. Hence, ‘Go
Red for Women’ is aimed at educating
women on the risk factors of cardiovascular
diseases and encouraging them to go
for regular health screenings. For more
information, please visit www.myheart.org.sg/grfw
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