SINGAPORE: More than S$3.3 million was disbursed under the Haze Subsidy Scheme last year, revealed Minister of State for Health Lam Pin Min in Parliament on Friday (Jan 29). The funds helped subsidise the cost of more than 77,000 visits to clinics and polyclinics to seek treatment for haze-related conditions.

He was responding to Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Leon Perera, who asked for data on the long-term effects of children's exposure to haze and the estimated healthcare cost of this impact.

The scheme was first introduced in 2013 and close to S$500,000 in Government subsidies was provided for more than 17,000 haze-related visits to clinics.

According to Dr Lam, it is difficult to ascertain the direct long-term health effects caused by episodic exposure to haze, as there could be other factors involved. He noted that there is currently no local or international data on this, and conducting research will be highly challenging, as it will be based on observational studies alone and will not be able to show a definite cause-and-effect relationship.

However, Mr Lam said the short-term impact of haze is well-documented, such as the irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. Those with chronic heart or lung diseases may also suffer an asthma attack.

Said Dr Lam: “Most importantly, we want to prevent haze from occurring in the first place. To this end, Singapore is working closely with neighbouring countries to tackle the haze issue, which is largely caused by irresponsible business practices.”