Speeches
Welcome Remarks by Dr John Lim, CEO, Health Sciences Authority at the HSA 10th Anniversary Symposium on 30 June 2011 at 3.30pm Matrix Auditorium
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30 June 2011
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Mr Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security, and Minister for Home Affairs
Professor Edison Liu, Chairman, Health Sciences Authority
Distinguished Speakers, Guests and Participants
On behalf of my fellow HSAians, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the Health Sciences Authority's Tenth Anniversary Symposium this afternoon. I would like to extend our special thanks to Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean for gracing this symposium. This event is of significance to HSA as we celebrate our first decade and we are very glad to have you with us, DPM Teo.
2 I would also like to thank all the speakers who are with us from different parts of the world, and we look forward to your presentations. We will round off the symposium with reflections on our theme of “Science Saves Lives” by Dr Tachi Yamada, former President of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Program, and now Senior Executive in Residence with Frazier Healthcare, and Executive Vice-President and Board Member of Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Professor Ed Liu, Chairman of HSA will then draw together the various insights from across today's presentations. I believe we will all be enriched by the wide experience and wisdom that our speakers bring to us this afternoon.
3 The scope of topics that will be discussed today - spanning regulatory science, transfusion medicine and forensic science - reflects the unique diversity in the functions and scope of HSA. Our organization, established as a statutory board of the Ministry of Health in 2001, is unique in housing these functions under one roof, and I have not encountered a similar agency elsewhere.
4 We view this diversity as an opportunity to foster distinctive scientific and regulatory synergy, fuelling our vision to be the leading innovative authority protecting and advancing national health and safety.
5 The common goal spanning our wide scope is our mission to safeguard public health and people's lives in our areas of expertise. While we do not always directly intervene at the individual patient level, scientific and regulatory decisions made across HSA crucially impact the well-being of our population, as well as influencing other jurisdictions around the world. The symposium theme this afternoon highlights that HSA applies science to save lives and also to ensure safe life.
6 Over our first decade, we have considerably transformed our systems and processes, expanded our professional functions, and recruited a wider range of scientific expertise to more effectively deal with the increasing range of professional issues we face.
7 We began with eight professional centres of varying size in 2001 and have since consolidated the diversity of our responsibilities under three professional groups that more clearly define our work. As you have seen in the video, these are in health products regulation of drugs and devices, blood banking and transfusion medicine, and applied sciences testing and investigative capabilities in analytical chemistry, forensic science and forensic medicine.
8 We are always acutely conscious of and actively tracking the challenges and implications of the fast evolving scientific and biomedical scene in which we operate. This has provided impetus for HSA to seek continuous improvements through innovation and to adopt wider local and international collaboration in order to fulfil our mission more effectively. Last year, we established the HSA Academy to promote HSA as a thought leader in our scientific and regulatory arenas. At the end of the day, it is the quality of our people that has made the difference in what we have achieved, and will continue to be the basis for our future success.
9 We are glad to have over 300 participants at today's symposium, with several from our partner agencies locally and globally. I hope you will gain fresh perspectives of HSA's work today and also find new avenues for scientific synergy.
10 It is now my great privilege to invite Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean to the stage to deliver the keynote welcome address.