Open the Door to Health
Clutter, poor sanitation, and unmaintained housing directly harm physical and mental health. A safe home fosters wellbeing
If I lived in Asia, is good health attainable?
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More than 1.6 billion people in Asia-Pacific live in inadequate housing, and over 600 million people live in slums or informal settlements.
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Regionally, nearly 910 million people in East Asia and the Pacific lack safe sanitation services and an estimated 116 million lack basic drinking water - straining health outcomes.
Mdm Lam's Story
“Now, my uncle has a clean home that can help him recover.”
Mdm Lam's uncle has been living alone since his wife passed on in 2018. Unable to care for himself, the house became cluttered and infested with bed bugs.
When her uncle was admitted to the hospital recently due to poor health, the nurses found bed bug bites all over his body. Mdm Lam only found out when her family could not enter due to the obstructed walkways and was forced to visit him in a nearby coffeeshop instead.
With mobility challenges herself, it was difficult to find help. Further, her uncle could not return home after hospitalisation as the house was deemed unsuitable for recovery.
With Habitat Singapore and volunteers, the house condition was restored, allowing Mdm Lam's uncle to have a decent space to recover and restart.
Closer to home:
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87,000 older people live alone in Singapore, many in rental apartments that can be cluttered, unhygienic, or pest-infested
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Unmaintained housing leads to geriatric health, hygiene-related illness, mental health challenges.