Opening Speech by MOS Rahayu Mahzam at the AI in Health x ATxSummit

Good morning.

The healthcare landscape today stands at the intersection of two defining realities: a rapidly ageing population, and the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. How we navigate this intersection will enable us to not only manage the healthcare challenges of tomorrow but also shape the health and wellbeing of generations to come.

The theme for today's session, "Smart Nation to Blue Zone Nation", sets a clear direction. Over the past decades, Singapore has built strong digital foundations: comprehensive healthcare IT systems, data infrastructure, and deep institutional trust. These foundations have enabled us to drive AI transformation in our healthcare sector.

The concept of a Blue Zone will be familiar to many in this room. In Blue Zones like Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, and Nicoya in Costa Rica, communities routinely live well beyond 90 years old. What they share is not advanced medical technology, but something simpler: ways of living that make good health the natural outcome.

By 2030, Singapore will have more seniors than children for the first time in our history. One in four Singaporeans will be aged 65 or older. In just a few decades, we have added years to life. The harder task now is to add life to those years.

Singapore has the rare opportunity to be deliberate about how we do that. We can use data to detect health patterns before they become disease burdens. We can deploy AI to catch what the human eye misses, rather than wait for patients to show up at the clinics. And we can build on what Healthier SG has begun: shifting our healthcare system upstream, towards prevention and community care, encouraging people to stay healthy through targeted measures before they ever need to seek care. After all, good health is something we can build up every day.

What gives me confidence that Singapore can chart this path towards building healthier communities is all of you gathered here today. Amongst us, researchers who understand what is happening at the cellular level of the human body, clinicians who know what it looks like when a patient falls through the cracks, technologists building the tools, policymakers who must make the system work for everyone, and industry leaders who understand that none of this reaches scale without sustainable economics. You represent the full chain, from discovery to delivery.

The conversations today will trace that chain deliberately, from what AI is teaching us about how we age, to how we bring these discoveries from laboratories and test beds to hospitals, communities and homes, and how we can make good ideas scale with the right economics. I am glad this Summit has brought the industry, academia, and the legal and regulatory communities together to tackle these important questions, because diverse perspectives help us bridge what is scientifically possible with what is practically meaningful for patients and communities.

We are also here to witness the signing of two MOUs today. The first is between Singapore General Hospital and A*STAR's Diagnostics Development Hub. This partnership aims to translate promising research into real impact for patients and has supported three innovations so far.

First, the in-vitro Antibiotic Combination Test (iACT), a tool that helps doctors choose the right antibiotic combination for patients, while addressing the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Second, PENSIEVE-AI, a digital drawing application that spots early memory problems in seniors.

Third, HealthVector Diabetes, which is the world's first digital twin model of human biology that can estimate the risk of chronic kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is one of Singapore's most pressing public health challenges. With complications like kidney failure, blindness, and amputation, diabetes is devastating for patients and strains our healthcare system. An AI tool that can help to identify high-risk individuals for early intervention is not just a research achievement. It is a direct response to one of the most urgent health needs of our population.

The second MOU, between SingHealth and Gyalpozhing College of Information Technology (GCIT), Royal University of Bhutan speaks to something I feel strongly about - that the work we do here should not stop at our borders. Singapore has long played a role as a regional health hub and knowledge partner, and this partnership is an expression of that commitment. I am especially heartened that at last year's ATx, we were speaking about a model still in development, and today, we see it find its footing beyond our shores.

Together, the SingHealth and GCIT teams are developing an AI-assisted chest radiograph model trained specifically on Bhutanese data, to support the diagnosis of lung diseases like infections and cancer in rural hospitals. The model is built on MerMED-FM, which is co-developed by SingHealth and A*STAR. This work is a testament to what becomes possible when clinical expertise and technical capability are brought together with a shared purpose.

Alongside the clinical tool, both institutions will co-develop guidelines, educational programmes, and regulatory frameworks on responsible AI use in healthcare, tailored to Bhutan's context. From engaging with Bhutan's unique healthcare setting, we strengthen what we know and what our models can do across the Asian region.

Both MOUs are a reminder that the work does not end when the Summit does; conversations open doors, but commitments are what move us forward.

As we move from vision to action, I want to echo the three Smart Nation goals - Trust, Growth, and Community.

Trust, in AI and healthcare, is the foundation for patient safety. As AI starts to play a more active role in our healthcare sector, we must continue to be rigorous about assessing and governing its use. This is why I am glad that SingHealth has developed the S.C.O.R.E. framework "Safety, Context & Consensus, Objectivity, Reproducibility, and Explainability" for evaluating large language model outputs and AI generated responses in clinical settings.

S.C.O.R.E. is already at work. Clinical teams across SingHealth have applied it to evaluate AI tools that support patient care delivery, from medication enquiry chatbots to AI systems that assist specialists during consultations, ensuring that AI responses are safe, accurate, and easy to understand. In clinical decision support, it has been used to validate model outputs before deployment, and to guide the selection of the most suitable models for different clinical contexts. The Singapore Government has contextualised guidance such as the AI in Healthcare Guidelines (AIHGle) that guides safe and responsible deployment of AI in healthcare, and the Model AI Governance Frameworks. These efforts help build up our trusted ecosystem for AI adoption.

On Growth, AI has the potential to transform what is diagnostically possible and equip clinicians with better tools. But realising that potential depends on how well we bridge two worlds. We need clinicians who understand AI well enough to ask better questions of it, identify where it falls short, and ensure it is applied appropriately at the bedside. And we need AI researchers who understand clinical care well enough to build tools - not just technically impressive ones - but those that address the realities and fit into how care is delivered. It is the combination of clinical expertise with technical capability, applied ethically and responsibly, that turns promising technology into better outcomes for patients.

And then there is Community. The problems we are trying to solve are too complex, with stakes that are too high for any community to tackle alone. We need clinicians, scientists, technologists, policymakers, industry leaders, and patient advocates to come together, and this Summit is a great platform to start.

When it comes to AI in healthcare, we are starting from a very good position - we have a strong healthcare system, the right talent, and sound governance. Healthcare is one of our national AI Missions, and there is so much potential for AI to create greater impact in healthcare - to improve clinical decision-making and healthcare delivery and helping people to live longer and live well. I look forward to what more we can achieve through AI for healthcare.

I thank the SingHealth AI Office for bringing together a remarkable gathering of clinicians, researchers, technologists, and policymakers, all united by a strong conviction that AI can and should serve human health.

On that note, it is my pleasure to declare the ATx Summit session on Smart Nation to Blue Zone Nation officially open. Thank you.