Date: 1 June 2024

ADDRESS BY SINGAPORE CANCER SOCIETY CHAIRMAN, MR LEE MENG TAT

AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE

NATIONAL CANCER CENTRE SINGAPORE – SINGAPORE CANCER SOCIETY (NCCS-SCS)

REHABILITATION CENTRE ON 1 JUNE 2024

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President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, also Patron of Singapore Cancer Society, 

Ms Jane Ittogi, Professor Lim Soon Thye, CEO National Cancer Centre Singapore,

Mr Chong Pang Boon, COO, National Cancer Centre Singapore,

Ladies and gentlemen, 

Thank you for joining us on this special day as we celebrate Cancer Survivors’ Day and the opening of the National Cancer Centre Singapore – Singapore Cancer Society Rehabilitation Centre. This morning, we commenced our day with a vibrant carnival. While we have organised many celebratory events for the cancer survivors over the years, today’s event marks a significant milestone as the Singapore Cancer Society (SCS) proudly joins the global celebration for the first time and will continue doing so annually. We are grateful to have the support of our friend and partner, the National Cancer Centre Singapore, who graciously co-hosted the event. 

Celebrating Our Cancer Warriors

Cancer Survivors’ Day is a poignant occasion, symbolising triumph over adversity. It is a Celebration for those who have triumphed, an Inspiration for those navigating recent diagnoses, a testament to the power of Community of Support for families and loved ones, and an Outreach to the community to raise awareness about cancer survivorship. This occasion not only celebrates the resilience of survivors but also serves as a beacon of hope for those currently facing the challenges of a cancer diagnosis, demonstrating that life can indeed, be vibrant and fulfilling post-treatment. And most importantly – we Celebrate Life. 

As Singapore’s leading cancer charity, SCS has been steadfastly committed to providing an integrated continuum of cancer care and support to our community for six decades. Through a diverse array of programmes and services such as cancer screening programmes, public education, financial and welfare services, psychosocial support, rehabilitation programmes, and hospice care, we strive to reduce cancer incidences, have better survivor rates and enhance the quality of life for those whom we serve.

Integrating Cancer Rehab for Better Cancer Care & Recovery
We have seen a rise in cancer survivorship rates and are determined to improve the quality of lives for our beneficiaries by continuing to provide programmes that help them reintegrate back into the workplace and community. As the pioneer for cancer rehab in Singapore, we at SCS recognise the pivotal role of cancer rehab in the recovery journey to help cancer survivors return to normalcy in life.

In 2016, SCS opened Singapore’s first community-based cancer rehabilitation centre at JEM Office Tower with a focus on supporting cancer survivors post treatment. The centre provided convenient access to integrated, person-centred and holistic rehab care tailored to the specific needs of cancer patients and survivors.

Strategic Rehab Plans

Since then, we have further developed a comprehensive and holistic approach in providing cancer care beyond treatment and have done so through our strategic partnership with the two leading national cancer bodies in Singapore – the National Cancer Centre Singapore(NCCS), and the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS) to open two new rehabilitation centres this year to offer a comprehensive continuum of rehab support. 

When SCS moved to the NCCS building in early 2023, we started the community oncology rehab services to help patients transition from acute care to community care. We also expanded our rehab services at Jurong Medical Centre to provide greater support to patients residing in the West, and are now partnering NCIS to move the rehabilitation centre to NUHS 

Medical Centre. 

This is further augmented by the community-based rehab programmes that we have put in place in partnership with SportSG (ActiveSG Gyms), where cancer survivors can continue to undergo rehab in the heartlands nearer to their home, to stay active to fight cancer. 

New milestone: Singapore’s first tertiary rehabilitation centre

Today, we mark a new milestone by moving upstream to engage survivors by partnering with NCCS to develop cancer rehab in the pre and during treatment phase.

SCS and NCCS have a longstanding partnership for many years. To formalise this 

symbiotic relationship, SCS and NCCS inked a strategic partnership in 2019, to provide holistic and seamless cancer support to more Singaporeans and to intensify upstream prevention methods to reduce cancer incidence, including for SCS to co-locate with NCCS, to provide access to integrated cancer care and to develop signature partnership programmes. 

SCS and NCCS, both leaders in championing cancer care in our respective areas, are leveraging on each other’s expertise and resources to further engage Singaporeans to take charge of their health. We have formed a joint taskforce to drive Cancer Controls & Prevention through collaborating on several World Cancer Day large-scale community events, webinars and social media campaigns on many cancer awareness topics and targeted programmes such as the Series of “Tuesdays with SCS”, where SCS provides support in outreach efforts. We have also initiated the NCCS-SCS Cancer Genetic Screening Service to identify potential cancer genes in a strategic bid to reduce cancer incidence. Having been co-located in NCCS building for more than a year now, we are seeing the benefits of seamless and integrated cancer care for the community. 

Today, we are officially opening our flagship rehabilitation centre that has been jointly 

developed with NCCS that will focus on supporting newly diagnosed cancer patients or who are about to start or currently undergoing treatment, with tertiary level care, as their needs are more medically complex and likely to require regular specialist intervention. When patients have completed their tertiary rehab care and are assessed to be suitable for community rehab, they would be seamlessly transferred to SCS for further rehab support to ensure they continue their journey to return to normalcy in life and they would eventually transit to the local community gyms to continue their rehab as part of the overall strategy for them to continue fighting cancer. 

No One Fights Cancer Alone

The opening of the NCCS-SCS Rehabilitation Centre is a testament of our commitment to advancing cancer rehab in Singapore. This new centre completes the full suite of rehab services offered by SCS as part of an integrated continuum of cancer care. With this new centre, patients can conveniently receive the clinical and rehab care all under one roof, which will include close follow up to minimise any dropouts.

The fight against cancer is always an uphill battle, yet through our unwavering dedication and collaborative partnerships, we remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting cancer warriors and their families throughout their journey by building a strong and reliable ecosystem. 

We are immensely grateful for the steadfast support and collaboration of the National Cancer Centre Singapore in realising our shared vision of holistic cancer care. 

As we commemorate our 60th anniversary this year, the Singapore Cancer Society looks forward to forging ahead with strategic developments and partnerships to further improve the lives of the cancer community.

Thank you.