Singapore will restart a haze-specific clinic subsidy scheme from Monday as smoke from Sumatra and Kalimantan keeps air quality in the unhealthy range and hospitals report a week-on-week rise in respiratory cases.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung told reporters at the Health Fiesta 2026 event on Saturday that the Ministry of Health is activating both the Public Health Preparedness Clinic network and the Haze Subsidy Scheme, which last operated during the severe haze episode of 2015. The move follows National Environment Agency forecasts that 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index readings are likely to remain unhealthy even as brief showers offered limited relief.
Who qualifies and what it costs
From October 12, eligible residents—including children under 18, seniors 65 and older, Community Health Assist Scheme Blue or Orange cardholders, Pioneer and Merdeka Generation members, and Public Assistance recipients—can visit any of about 1,370 participating clinics for haze-related respiratory symptoms at subsidized rates.
Ong said co-payments could be as low as zero, five, or ten Singapore dollars depending on eligibility, with the government reimbursing clinics for the balance. The scheme is designed to keep mild cases out of emergency departments already reporting higher attendance for cough and breathlessness.
Air quality and hospital pressure
NEA's evening advisory on October 11 still placed island-wide 24-hour PSI between roughly 112 and 155, with PM2.5 elevated in most regions despite a slight dip from overnight peaks above 180 in the central area. Dry conditions over parts of southern Sumatra and Kalimantan mean southeasterly winds can continue to push smoke toward Singapore for weeks, Ong cautioned, noting that inter-monsoon patterns have not yet shifted.
The minister said emergency departments and polyclinics are recording a clear week-on-week increase in respiratory presentations, a trend neighborhood GP clinics are seeing as well. The government's Haze Task Force has already outlined wider measures—including N95 mask distribution for vulnerable groups and shelter plans if PSI crosses 201—but the clinic subsidies are the first direct pocketbook relief for households coping with persistent haze.
What residents should do
Officials continue to urge Singaporeans to monitor NEA readings, reduce strenuous outdoor activity when air quality is poor, and seek care early if symptoms worsen. With national examinations and school activities continuing under haze protocols, the subsidy activation aims to keep routine care affordable while ministries coordinate with Indonesian counterparts on upstream fire suppression.
Clinic operators said they are preparing for higher walk-in volumes Monday morning as residents learn the scheme is live again for the first time in more than a decade. MOH will publish the full list of participating PHPC clinics on its website and through the Healthy 365 app.
Education Minister Desmond Lee said schools will follow existing haze management plans, including moving physical education indoors when air quality deteriorates, while national examinations proceed under contingency guidelines issued last week.