Development of Clinical Practice Guidelines for Managing Perimenopausal and Menopausal Symptoms

110 Ms Ng Ling Ling asked the Minister for Health with regard to the findings to-date of the clinical study by the Integrated Women's Health Programme (IWHP) initiated by the National University of Singapore's Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (a) whether the Ministry will consider using these findings to develop Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) for best practices in the management of perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms for Singaporean women; and (b) if so, how long will it take for such a CPG to be developed.

Mr Ong Ye Kung: The Integrated Women's Health Programme (IWHP) is a cohort study of the associations between menopause and age-related health issues in Singaporean women, such as osteoporosis and sleep disturbances. The National University Health System plans to conduct follow-up studies, which will cover management of these associated health conditions.

The development of new clinical guidelines is prioritised yearly based on considerations, such as disease burden and availability of high-quality evidence. There is currently an Agency for Care Effectiveness Clinical Guidance for osteoporosis, a condition that is of importance in menopausal women, with evidence-based treatment protocols. In time, the full IWHP findings will inform us on the need to develop separate guidelines for menopausal symptoms.