Vaccination programmes in Singapore started in 1938, even before WWII. Read on to understand how vaccinations can help to save your life.
Singapore’s National Childhood Immunisation Programme (NCIP)
It covers vaccination against more than 10 diseases and infections.
Prevention is better than Cure
Unlike medicines which are meant to treat a disease after you fall sick, vaccines are designed to prevent you from catching it in the first place. There are important vaccines that can protect us from certain illnesses that lead to serious health issues including cancer. Such vaccines are also recommended by the Ministry of Health in the National Adult Immunisation Schedule. We will focus on 4 such vaccines in this article.
HPV Vaccine
The HPV is a virus that can affect different parts of the body, and certain high-risk strains can persist and result in cervical cancer (10 th most common cancer in Singaporean women). In fact, 70% of cervical cancer worldwide are caused by vaccine-preventable HPV strains. And routine Pap Smears may not be able to detect HPV. A HPV test is recommended for females 30 yo and above.
Recommendation:
Females who were not vaccinated at the age of 12/13 under the NCIP, should get vaccinated before they turn 26.
If you are above 26, speak with your gynaecologist to find out about your suitability. Vaccination is still recommended so long as you are sexually active
Hep B vaccine
The Hep B virus causes infection in the liver, and it can develop longterm complications like liver cirrhosis (permanent scarring and hardening of liver) or liver cancer (4 th most common cancer in Singaporean men).
Recommendation:
Regardless of whether you were vaccinated at birth, it is recommended to go for a pre-vaccination Hep B screening to find out about your suitability, or whether you require a booster shot to build up adequate immunity to the disease.
Chickenpox (aka Varicella) vaccine
We mostly think of Chickenpox as a common childhood disease that allowed us to skip 2 weeks of school. And the symptoms are typically mild – fever and small itchy blisters on the face and body. But when adults catch Chickenpox, we usually experience a more severe version of the symptoms, such as having up to 500 blisters spread over the entire body.
For those who have had Chickenpox before, the virus may resurface again later in life in the form of Shingles. About 1 in 3 will develop this disease, usually after age 50. It can cause painful skin rash and may damage one’s eyesight if the disease develops around the eyes.
Recommendation:
Those who have not gotten Chickenpox before, should get vaccinated against it.
Those who have gotten it before, should consider getting vaccinated against Shingles, especially for those age 60 and above
Pneumococcal Vaccine
It is a bacterial infection that can lead to chest, ear, and brain infections, and even death.
Recommendation:
Although it is part of the NCIP, adults aged 65 and above should get re-vaccinated as this disease is also common in the elderly.
Adults under 65 should also get re-vaccinated, if they have conditions such as:
Heart disease,
Diabetes, or
Cancer.
Effectiveness of vaccines
Although few vaccines are 100% effective, but they help to significantly reduce the risk of us unnecessarily catching diseases and infections. Treatment after-the-fact is always much more inconvenient. And even then, we can still end up with permanent damage done to our health.
Don’t wait for something bad to happen first before you finally decide to take action. And with MediSave schemes available for us to use up to $500 ($700 for those with complex chronic conditions) every year for outpatient care including these recommended MOH vaccinations, there is little reason not to get vaccinated now
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