Public Health Ambassador Program -1st Announcement

More than one year on, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage communities throughout the world. The arrival of vaccines brings hope to seeing light at the end of the tunnel. However, despite the efforts of the health authorities in educating the public on the safety and benefits of the vaccine, there remain significant pockets within the population in Singapore that are hesitant to take the vaccine. Vaccination is needed to attained herd immunity in Singapore. Herd immunity within the Singapore population is needed to provide protection to those who are not eligible for the vaccine eg children under the age of 18 and adults with medical contraindications. Furthermore, herd immunity is also needed to enable safe re-opening of our borders to restart the economy. In short, a successful vaccination program is needed to save both lives and livelihoods.

 The Vocational Service Committee (VSC), Youth Service Committee (YSC) and Community Service Committee (CSC) of RCS have engaged the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH), National University of Singapore, to conduct a Public Health Ambassador Program (PHAP). The objective of the program is to provide our Interactors, Rotaractors and Rotarians with the necessary knowledge and skills to reach out to the communities that they serve and educate them on the safety and importance of getting vaccinated as well as other public health measures needed to keep the pandemic in check. 

The Program will be launched on 5 June 2021 in a public webinar. Experts from the SSHSPH will share their expertise on the COVID-19 pandemic and answer questions from the public. Thereafter, a close door workshop will be conducted for Interactors, Rotaractors and Rotarians to equip them with knowledge and skills to function as Public Health Ambassadors. Thereafter, each club will use these knowledge and skills to help educate the respective communities that they serve, on the importance of getting vaccinated and to maintain optimal public health.

This program is not only directed at converting the vaccine-hesitant. As the Multi-Ministry Task Force Co-Chair Minister Lawrence Wong said, the pandemic is likely to impact us for the next 4-5 years in varying degrees. The emergence of variants as the virus mutates may give rise to secondary waves of infections. We hope that this first collaboration with the SSHSPH can lead to a long-term relationship that will empower our youths and members with public health knowledge in helping our communities weather the on-going challenges of COVID-19 as well as future pandemics. 

Join us in this inaugural public webinar to launch the Public Health Ambassador Program on 5 June 2021, 9am-10am. (Further details and the zoom link will be provided later.)

Those who are interested in becoming Public Health Ambassadors can sign up for the private workshop that will take place after the webinar, from 10am-1pm. (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_e_Mx_s2f_GGTqxEZOP7uZyZhaSrRld_jxu07RHJ2U4/edit)

For more information, please contact:

Rtn Dr S L Chan

Vocational Service Director 2020-21

Rotary Club of Singapore 

slchan.rotary@gmail.com