Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong will visit Singapore from November 6 to 8 to meet health officials on control measures against SARS and other communicable diseases.

During the three-day visit, Dr Yeoh will meet Acting Minister for Health Khaw Boon Wan and Minister of State for Health Dr Balaji Sadasivan. He will also visit Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

He will discuss with Singaporean officials communicable disease control mechanisms, contingency planning, utilisation of information technology in the control of communicable diseases and the initiation of response in an outbreak.

"In our preparation for the setting up of a centre for health protection, it is important to learn from different overseas experience," Dr Yeoh said.

"We have held discussions with officials from the US' Centres for Disease Control & Prevention and the UK's Health Protection Agency. It will be useful to listen and observe how our Singaporean counterparts tackle communicable diseases."

Deputy Director of Health Dr Leung Pak-yin and Deputy Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Susie Ho will also join the visit.