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S'pore ranked Asia's 2nd best city in provision of end-of-life care
By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid | Posted: 14 July 2010 1202 hrs
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SINGAPORE: Singapore has emerged as Asia's second best city in the provision of end-of-life care, according to the first-ever global Quality of Death Index.
It ranked 18th after Taiwan, which occupied the 14th spot in the index of some 40 countries and territories.
=> See how the 154th die die wanna play with the classification to 'push up' Peesai's ranking?
Coming in close to Singapore was Hong Kong which took up 20th place. Japan was placed 23rd, South Korea 32nd and Malaysia 33rd.
The index by The Economist Intelligence Unit was commissioned by Singapore's Lien Foundation.
It ranks countries based on 24 indicators split into four broad categories - quality, availability, basic health care environment, and cost of end-of-life care.
"Quality" is given the largest weighting of 40%. "Availability" accounts for 25%, "Basic End-of-Life Healthcare Environment" 20% and "Cost" 15%.
The United Kingdom topped the table, followed by Australia and New Zealand.
Experts involved in the study said that UK's top rank comes despite the country having "a far-from-perfect healthcare system".
It gained high marks when it came to indicators such as public awareness, training availability, access to pain killers and doctor-patient transparency.
These indicators make up the most important category - quality - which accounts for 40 per cent of the overall score. Singapore was also strongest in this category.
Experts said factors like training for end-of-life care in medical schools, level of doctor-patient transparency and accreditation for end-of-life care providers put Singapore in good stead.
The country, however, was weakest in Basic End-of life Healthcare Environment category (30th place).
The findings also showed that the prosperity of a country does not have a direct bearing on the quality of end-of-life care.
And countries with a national palliative care strategy such as UK, Australia and New Zealand tended to fare better in their care for the dying.
The bottom-ranked countries include Brazil, India and Uganda.
The study revealed that combating perceptions of death and cultural taboos is crucial to improving palliative care.
The Lien Foundation said it will engage healthcare professionals, academics and community leaders for discussions on the future of end-of-life care in Singapore.
- CNA/ir
By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid | Posted: 14 July 2010 1202 hrs
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=260 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD width=20 align=right> </TD><TD width=240 align=right>
</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD><TD class=update> </TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
SINGAPORE: Singapore has emerged as Asia's second best city in the provision of end-of-life care, according to the first-ever global Quality of Death Index.
It ranked 18th after Taiwan, which occupied the 14th spot in the index of some 40 countries and territories.
=> See how the 154th die die wanna play with the classification to 'push up' Peesai's ranking?
Coming in close to Singapore was Hong Kong which took up 20th place. Japan was placed 23rd, South Korea 32nd and Malaysia 33rd.
The index by The Economist Intelligence Unit was commissioned by Singapore's Lien Foundation.
It ranks countries based on 24 indicators split into four broad categories - quality, availability, basic health care environment, and cost of end-of-life care.
"Quality" is given the largest weighting of 40%. "Availability" accounts for 25%, "Basic End-of-Life Healthcare Environment" 20% and "Cost" 15%.
The United Kingdom topped the table, followed by Australia and New Zealand.
Experts involved in the study said that UK's top rank comes despite the country having "a far-from-perfect healthcare system".
It gained high marks when it came to indicators such as public awareness, training availability, access to pain killers and doctor-patient transparency.
These indicators make up the most important category - quality - which accounts for 40 per cent of the overall score. Singapore was also strongest in this category.
Experts said factors like training for end-of-life care in medical schools, level of doctor-patient transparency and accreditation for end-of-life care providers put Singapore in good stead.
The country, however, was weakest in Basic End-of life Healthcare Environment category (30th place).
The findings also showed that the prosperity of a country does not have a direct bearing on the quality of end-of-life care.
And countries with a national palliative care strategy such as UK, Australia and New Zealand tended to fare better in their care for the dying.
The bottom-ranked countries include Brazil, India and Uganda.
The study revealed that combating perceptions of death and cultural taboos is crucial to improving palliative care.
The Lien Foundation said it will engage healthcare professionals, academics and community leaders for discussions on the future of end-of-life care in Singapore.
- CNA/ir
