YAP, Michelle

Senior Assistant Director, Singapore Government, Ministry of Home Affairs, S&T Assessment Taskforce, Office of the Chief Science and Technology Officer

 

As an administrator, Michelle works closely with the Chief Science & Technology Officer of MHA in identifying strategic scientific engagements, platforms and collaborations to yield high impact outcomes for homefront security, frontline ground operations. She is engaged in futures and strategies work, and sees science as the key to unlocking many of the ‘locks’ in the modern, developing societies. 

Ms Yap earned a B.Sc in Psychology from the National University of Singapore. She has been exposed to a wide variety of homefront security work in MHA ranging from counter-terrorism programme development, awareness training, research, strategic engagement programmes, development of technical facilities and capabilities.

 

ABSTRACT

14:30-16:00 6 NOVEMBER
THEMATIC SESSION II.A: FIT FOR PURPOSE GLOBAL HEALTH POLICIES

Southeast Asia (SEA) has often been singled out as a hotbed for emerging diseases largely due to population growth and people movements in this region; globalised tourism sector, economic developments and urbanisation, affluence-driven food production system and agricultural land use; and water and sanitation. In less than two decades, SEA saw the arrival of SARS, H5N1 and a small bout of MERS on its shores, which made headline news in the interational newspapers. Endemic infectious diseases such as dengue and Nipah virus are also found in this region. The region has stepped up in its surveillance and international health regime to counter these EID. More can be done beyond the public health domain. In today’s world, an index case of a EID can have devastating effects that rippled beyond its shores and borders. A multi-disciplinary framework is necessary to garner the hands of the non-public health bodies to participate in managing EID in SEA.