Singapore-China Collaboration on Palliative Care Initiative Benefits More Than 36,000 People in Yunnan

Kunming, Yunnan, China, 15 October 2022 – A Singapore International Foundation (SIF) capacity-building initiative involving Yunnan New Kunhua Hospital (NKH), Yunnan Health and Development Research Association (YHDRA), and Singapore’s Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) has seen strong improvements and benefits in palliative care in Yunnan. About 36,000 people now have enhanced care, thanks to the better trained healthcare professionals and caregivers as a result of the initiative - Enhancing Palliative Care in Yunnan, China.

The project started in 2019 and sought to enhance the capacity and capability of palliative care professionals in Yunnan province. This is in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 3, to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all, at all ages.

Dr Wu Huei Yaw, Singapore International Volunteer (SIV) Team Leader and Senior Consultant at TTSH’s Department of Palliative Medicine, led a team of SIVs comprising multi-disciplinary palliative care professionals from TTSH for the three-year project.

The SIVs are part of a larger pool of volunteers who work with their overseas counterparts to build capability and capacity in various fields such as education and healthcare. They help bring about sustainable positive change in overseas communities and foster greater intercultural understanding in the process.

Enhancing Palliative Care in Yunnan, China saw the SIVs and their counterparts engaging in clinical training workshops and symposia, where they exchanged knowledge, skills, and resources in palliative care. The sessions covered topics such as nursing, symptom management and psycho-social care.

A series of physical and online train-the-trainers workshops were completed over the last three years. This resulted in a core group of 37 healthcare practitioners becoming Master Trainers. They comprised doctors and nurses from the palliative, oncology, and geriatric departments of 18 hospitals and palliative care facilities, as well as social workers and university professors, in Kunming and surrounding counties.

These Master Trainers went on to train more than 800 other healthcare practitioners, thus enabling wider sustainable impact in their local communities.

At the project’s virtual closing ceremony on 15 October 2022, Mr David Chong, SIF Governor, said: “We are encouraged by the results of this joint project, driven by the dedication of our healthcare professionals from Singapore and China. The project’s successful completion underscores the value of connections that enable collaborations for positive change, which is at the heart of the SIF’s work. We look forward to many more years of friendship and meaningful collaborations with China.”

Dr Li Bo, President of NKH said: “Our collaboration with the SIF has helped us accomplish many milestones in palliative care. The project put in place a sustainable educational process for our healthcare professionals. Our participants also gained a better understanding of Singapore’s healthcare practices as well as its people and culture through our interactions.”

Professor Zhang Kai Ning, Director of Experts Panel at YHDRA, added: “The comprehensive training programme helped us to achieve our goal of boosting the quality of palliative care. The participating palliative care professionals from Yunnan has formed a strong foundation for an enhanced quality of care in the community and we hope more people can benefit from this for years to come. We also look forward to strengthening our warm friendship with the SIF so that both parties can continue to enrich lives through better healthcare standards.”

Dr Neo Han Yee, Head of the Department of Palliative Medicine at TTSH said: “It was truly a privilege to be able to share our expertise and experience with our counterparts in China through this project. We are thankful to our hosts and participants who have been enthusiastic and engaging throughout the sessions. We hope this collaboration will further enhance standards of palliative care in the region.”

Dr Li Xiao Xia, participant from NKH, said that the training had two main benefits for her: “I gained fresh perspectives and relevant skills needed to communicate effectively and empathetically when caring for my patients and their families. I am also inspired by the dedication shown by the Singapore team of volunteers and, our friendships forged will outlast the project.”

The completion of Enhancing Palliative Care in Yunnan, China marks another milestone in the 29-year friendship between the SIF and China. Since 1993, the SIF has been bringing Singaporeans and their Chinese counterparts together to work on shared challenges at the people-to-people level. The fields have included social entrepreneurship and the arts, in addition to healthcare.