SPEECH BY MR ONG YE KUNG, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND COORDINATING MINISTER FOR SOCIAL POLICIES, AT THE NATIONAL HEART WEEK – WORLD HEART DAY EVENT, 3 OCTOBER 2026

 1.       Good afternoon. Very pleased to join you today for National Heart Week at Heartbeak@Bedok. I will talk about food and exercise and lifestyle in general. I think as mentioned earlier, heart health is not built in hospitals and clinics, but is built through daily life through our individual choices. 

Encouraging Progress in Lifestyle Behaviours  

2.      I think more Singaporeans are making the right choices. And this is shown in our latest National Population Health Survey. The results are not out; they will be out very shortly. But today, let me give you a preview. There’s good news and there’s also bad news. I start with the good news.  

3.      The survey showed proportion of residents with sufficient total physical activity has risen further. Two years ago, 2023, was 78.5%. Now, 2025, latest survey - 87.3%. Just to explain, it used to be at a fairly high level, and during COVID years, it really plunged. It took us many years to climb back up, and now it surpassed pre-COVID numbers. So that’s very good for Singaporeans.  

4.      Daily smoking rates remain below 9%. This year it went up slightly. Previous year, 8.4%. This year, 8.8%. I think overall we are still seeing a downward trend in terms of smoking. Still good news. 

5.      More people are going for recommended health screenings. Chronic disease screening has increased: 62.6% in 2023 to 71.5% in 2025.  Diabetes screening, over the same period, increased 76.7% to 82.5%, colorectal cancer screening, has risen from 41.7% to 46.9%, breast cancer screening 34.7% to 40.8%. Still have some way to climb, but now all the levels surpass pre-COVID-19 levels.