Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung announced a press conference will be held next week to address the global spread of mpox.

He confirmed this during an event marking the partnership between the Ministry of Health (MOH) and SMRT Corporation to recognise healthcare professionals on Aug. 31.

No severe mpox cases detected in Singapore to date

Mpox was declared a "public health emergency" by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Aug. 18, after more than 15,600 cases and 537 deaths were reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) this year.

In the past month, over 100 laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus were detected in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that is caused by two distinct clades of the monkeypox virus (MPXV), known as Clade I and II, said MOH.

The most common symptoms of the disease are blister-like rashes and fever, where serious complications or death can occur in medically vulnerable individuals.

The disease was primarily reported in parts of Central (Clade I) and West Africa (Clade II) before 2022, with almost all cases occurring outside of Africa being linked to international travel to endemic regions or through imported animals.

As of Aug. 22, Singapore has 13 confirmed cases of mpox, all of which are of the less severe Clade II infections.

No cases of the more severe mpox Clade I have been detected in Singapore to date.

MOH assured the public that the Singapore ministries are monitoring the situation closely and there are no direct flights between Singapore and any mpox outbreak country.

Temperature and visual screening have also been placed for inbound travellers and crew arriving on flights from places with potential outbreak risks at Changi and Seletar airports.

"Similar screening measures will also be implemented at sea checkpoints for crew and passengers arriving on ships from mpox affected areas," MOH added.

Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious disease physician at Rophi Clinic, told Mothership that the mpox outbreak "will not be another Covid-19", as mpox is spread through close physical contact and does not mutate as quickly.

Recruitment in the healthcare industry

At the event, Ong said that he sees the same spirit of giving back to the community in MOH and SMRT Corporation.

Behind the scenes, both organisations execute hard difficult work to serve their communities, which juxtaposes with the softer caring image they front to the public.

Touching on recruitment in the healthcare industry, Ong said:

"As our population gets older, capacity has to increase. Capacity is useless if you do not have doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals. So we constantly have to recruit."

Seven to eight per cent of every student cohort goes into the healthcare sector, a good indication that it is a "very attractive sector".

Additionally, healthcare in ITE, polytechnics, and universities are all full and oversubscribed.

"However, there is actually a percentage, not a small one, that after graduation did not come into healthcare," Ong said.

"We hope that some of those who did not come into healthcare, even though they were trained in healthcare, can join our healthcare sector and give it a try."

Top image via Canva