Gleneagles Hospital's seminar on ageing held

The Gleneagles Hospital's 17th seminar on “Managing ageing: recent advances in medicine” took place at Sheraton towers in Singapore yesterday.

The focus of the seminar was to bring awareness about managing ageing and maintaining quality of life and not about the longevity.

Specialists on geriatric medicine, endocrinology, ophthalmology, cardiology, orthopaedic surgery and neurology talk elaborately on ailments common to senior citizens at the seminar.

Eighteen international journalists from South Asian countries, including Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh, joined the event.

"As Singapore is celebrating her 50th year of independence this year, we believe our theme 'managing ageing' is timely to refresh and update our knowledge in geriatrics," said Dr Bertha Woon, chairman of the organising committee of the seminar.

The Gleneagles boasts a history of 56 years of giving care to Singaporean and other regional patients, said Dr Vincent Chia, CEO of Gleneagles.

Speaking about regional patients, Dr Chia said medical tourism is increasing in Singapore with the highest number of patients coming in from Indonesia, Malaysia, UAE and Bangladesh.

Medical treatment in Bangladesh has improved in the last decade, said Zahid khan, a director of Parkway Hospitals, Dhaka office.

“But to avail technologically advanced treatment for complex surgeries or for minimal invasive surgeries related to cancer or liver and pancreatic ailments, patients from Dhaka are increasingly seeking medical treatment in Singapore.”

The Gleneagles and Mount Elizabeth hospitals are under the Parkway Hospitals banner.

Dr Chia stressed the need for seeking help early. "We are passionate about curing our patients. To help us do that, early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment are of utmost importance.”

“We are aware of regional patients being on tight budgets, for which I am reiterating on this fact. Clinical governance to protect the patients is of utmost importance to the Gleneagles,” Dr Chia said.

The Gleneagles specialises on women's reproductive health, liver transplant and other liver disease and orthopaedics. There are international patient centres to facilitate international patients. There are two patient assistance centres in Chittagong and Dhaka of Bangladesh to provide information on treatments.