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Singapore hosted a course in Community Health Promotion from 3 to 7 December 2012 for 13 officials from the Pacific Island states of Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.  

The course is jointly organised by the World Health Organisation's Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) and Singapore's Health Promotion Board with the support of the Singapore Cooperation Programme as well as the Singapore Ministry of Health. The course facilitators and participants shared their experiences on basic health promotion theories and models through relevant case studies. Site visits to our food centres and supermarkets were also arranged to allow participants to experience first-hand how Singapore weaved in health promotion policies into our day-to-day living.  

Ms Alicia Hipa, a Health Promoting Officer from Niue, said, "The course was excellent. I liked that there was a lot of practical work as opposed to lecture style teaching. I enjoyed the case studies shared and am inspired to introduce programmes similar to the Health Promotion Board's to help locals stay healthy."

The Third Asia-Pacific Dengue Workshop, held in Singapore from 28 August to 6 September 2012, is a capacity building programme that supports the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Dengue Strategic Plan for the Asia-Pacific Region. It is the only workshop in this region that offers public health practitioners a holistic view of dengue surveillance and control, with an emphasis on the establishment of linkages between laboratory diagnosis and surveillance, clinical management and field control.

This year’s workshop saw a gathering of 71 participants from 24 countries, including those from the WHO Western Pacific, South-East Asia and Eastern Mediterranean Regions. The workshop comprised parallel sessions on laboratory surveillance, field surveillance and control, and clinical management, encompassing lectures, laboratory practicals, site visits and hands-on field experience. Participants studied the ground implementation and operations of Singapore’s national dengue control programme, and participated in hands-on experience on mosquito identification, dengue diagnostics and laboratory-based surveillance, which are among the key strengths of this programme. Experts from WHO, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and USA also provided insights into the various concepts and strategies of dengue surveillance, control and management.

The workshop was jointly organised by WHO, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Singapore Cooperation Programme, and NEA, in collaboration with Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Nanyang Polytechnic, Regional Emerging Diseases Intervention Centre and the Singapore Society of Microbiology and Biotechnology.