Jill Biden, Ong Ye Kung outline future of women’s health in lifelong preventive care

(From left) Moderator Esther Krofah Executive Vice President of Health from Milken Institute; Jill Biden, Chair of Milken Institute Women's Health Network; and Ong Ye Kung, Minister of Health Singapore in a panel discussion at the Milken Asia Summit on Oct 8, 2026.

Published Oct 08, 2026, 09:50 PM

Updated Oct 08, 2026, 09:50 PM

Jill Biden and Ong Ye Kung called for a major shift in women’s healthcare, with more research equity, prevention and better care for menopause and ageing.

Singapore said women live to 84 on average but spend 12 years in ill health, and plans new osteoporosis, sarcopenia and genetic screening support.

Ong outlined future care as preventive, predictive and personalised, with AI risk forecasts from 2027 and genome mapping for 450,000 residents.

SINGAPORE - A comprehensive, lifelong shift toward preventive care is essential to close the health-span gap for women.

This is critical as women are living longer than men, but spending a significantly larger portion of those extra years in ill health.

Making these comments at a panel discussion on Oct 8 , Dr Jill Biden, chair of the Milken Institute Women’s Health Network, called for a comprehensive medical roadmap that guides women through every stage of life.

“Women really want a roadmap about where their health is, where it’s going, and that should really start when women get their first periods, and then all through till the end of life,” she said, noting that female biology is under-researched.

As the former first lady of the United States, she had spearheaded the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research to advance federal funding.

The panel, moderated by executive vice president of health from the Milken Institute Esther Krofah, took place at the 13th Milken Institute Asia Summit at the Four Seasons Hotel in Singapore.

Reflecting on her own experience, Biden recalled her own frustration navigating menopause three decades ago, when clear medical guidance was sparse and the topic was taboo.

She said conditions like osteoporosis must be addressed earlier through proactive education and targeted care.

Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who was in conversation with Biden, positioned the nation as a potential reference model for putting solutions into practice.

“Singapore can be that urban environment that will provide that test bed that makes things work,” he said, hoping that the industry would then find gender-specific research and prevention worth investing in.

“Once you’re focused on healthy longevity, you will recognise that women has a bigger challenge because biologically women have... a lot more health vulnerabilities than men,” Ong said.

“The tide has changed, and there will be more focus, and there will be more female mice in the future.”

Ong said that in Singapore, women live to an average age of 84, but spend 12 years in ill health compared with less than 10 years for men.

The panelists also discussed the prevalence of sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss, and that more education is needed to address it.

Translating this need into policy, Ong had announced earlier this week that screening tests for osteoporosis and sarcopenia will be offered through general practitioner clinics under Singapore preventive health programme, Healthier SG.

This rollout ensures that individuals requiring early intervention can be identified. Once identified, the individuals will be referred to active ageing centres where they can access coaches, fitness training, and weightlifting, without having to sign up for an expensive gym package, he said.

“Preventive health and population health has to be made accessible. It is not in the clinic; it is in the community. It’s in homes,” said Ong.

Besides muscular and bone health, Singapore has also expanded its preventive framework to combat life-threatening hereditary diseases.

The nation will subsidise genetic testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer from December 2026, while allowing MediShield Life and MediSave to offset the costs of risk-reducing surgeries.

These targeted moves align with a broader shift in the country’s healthcare focus towards preventive, predictive, and personalized care.

Unlike countries where healthcare spending eats up 10 to 17 per cent of GDP, Singapore currently spends roughly 4.5 per cent of its GDP on healthcare. Ong said this gives Singapore the fiscal headroom to split resources between acute hospital care and preventive care.

In closing, Biden urged the audience to do something to move women’s health forward, be it through targeted investments, personal learning or educating others about it.

“Going forward, you know, we can have all these conversations, but we’re going to be remembered is by the changes and the improvements we make now.”

（从左至右）米尔肯研究所执行副总裁兼卫生部主管主持人埃丝特·克罗法；米尔肯研究所妇女健康网络主席吉尔·拜登；以及新加坡卫生部长王乙康，于 2026 年 10 月 8 日在米尔肯亚洲峰会上参加小组讨论。

发布于2026年10月8日晚上9:50

更新于2026年10月8日晚上9:50

吉尔·拜登和王艺琮呼吁对女性医疗保健进行重大改革，加强研究公平性，预防疾病，并改善更年期和老年护理。

新加坡表示，女性平均寿命为 84 岁，但患病时间长达 12 年，并计划推出新的骨质疏松症、肌肉减少症和基因筛查支持计划。

Ong 概述了未来的护理将以预防、预测和个性化为特征，从 2027 年开始进行人工智能风险预测，并对 45 万居民进行基因组测序。

新加坡——全面、终身地转向预防性护理，对于缩小女性健康寿命差距至关重要。

这一点至关重要，因为女性的寿命比男性长，但她们多出的几年时间里，患病的比例却要高得多。

10 月 8 日，米尔肯研究所女性健康网络主席吉尔·拜登博士在小组讨论会上发表了上述评论，她呼吁制定一份全面的医疗路线图，指导女性度过人生的每个阶段。

“女性真正想要的是一个关于她们健康状况的路线图，了解她们的健康状况现状和未来发展方向，而这应该从女性初潮开始，一直持续到生命终结，”她说道，并指出女性生物学方面的研究还不够充分。

作为美国前第一夫人，她曾牵头发起白宫妇女健康研究倡议，以推进联邦拨款。

本次小组讨论由米尔肯研究院健康执行副总裁埃丝特·克罗法主持，在新加坡四季酒店举行的第 13 届米尔肯研究院亚洲峰会上进行。

回顾自己的经历，拜登回忆起三十年前她经历更年期时的沮丧，当时明确的医疗指导很少，而且这个话题还是禁忌。

她表示，像骨质疏松症这样的疾病必须通过积极的教育和有针对性的护理尽早加以解决。

新加坡卫生部长王乙康与拜登会谈时，将新加坡定位为将解决方案付诸实践的潜在参考模式。

“新加坡可以成为一个城市环境，提供一个试验场，让各种方法行之有效，”他说道，并希望业界能够找到值得投资的性别特定研究和预防方法。

“一旦你关注健康长寿，你就会意识到女性面临着更大的挑战，因为从生物学角度来看，女性比男性更容易出现健康问题，”翁说。

“形势已经改变，未来会更加关注雌性小鼠，雌性小鼠的数量也会更多。”

Ong表示，在新加坡，女性的平均寿命为84岁，但她们患病的时间长达12年，而男性患病的时间则不到10年。

小组成员还讨论了肌少症（或与年龄相关的肌肉流失）的普遍性，并指出需要进行更多教育来解决这个问题。

为了将这一需求转化为政策，王毅本周早些时候宣布，新加坡预防保健计划“更健康的新加坡”（Healthier SG）将通过全科医生诊所提供骨质疏松症和肌肉减少症筛查测试。

他说，这项推广计划旨在确保能够及早识别出需要干预的人群。一旦确定，这些人将被转介到积极老龄化中心，在那里他们可以接受教练指导、进行健身训练和举重练习，而无需购买昂贵的健身房会员卡。

“预防保健和人群保健必须普及。它不在诊所，而在于社区，在于家庭，”翁说。

除了肌肉和骨骼健康外，新加坡还扩大了其预防框架，以对抗危及生命的遗传性疾病。

从 2026 年 12 月起，国家将补贴遗传性乳腺癌和卵巢癌的基因检测，同时允许终身健保计划和保健储蓄计划抵消降低风险手术的费用。

这些有针对性的举措与该国医疗保健重点向预防性、预测性和个性化护理的更广泛转变相一致。

与医疗保健支出占GDP 10%至17%的国家不同，新加坡目前医疗保健支出约占GDP的4.5%。王先生表示，这使得新加坡拥有足够的财政空间，可以在急性医院护理和预防保健之间合理分配资源。

最后，拜登敦促听众为推动女性健康事业做出贡献，无论是通过有针对性的投资、个人学习还是教育他人。

“展望未来，我们可以进行各种各样的对话，但最终会被人们记住的，是我们现在所做的改变和改进。”