Mental healthcare in Singapore

Singapore is a modern city state and the smallest nation (land area of 699 km(2)) in South East Asia. Its population of over 4 million is multiracial, with the Chinese (76.8%) constituting the majority of the population, followed by the Malays (13.9%) and the Indians (7.9%). The present health system is one that stresses individual responsibility, based on a system of compulsory medical saving accounts and on market mechanisms for the allocation of scarce healthcare resources. There are both public and private healthcare sectors. Since 1985, every public sector hospital has been ‘restructured’ – to grant some degree of autonomy in operational matters, with the intention of creating competition and financial discipline, although the government still retains 100% ownership of the hospitals.