HPB keeping better track of fitness trackers: Ong Ye Kung
The Health Promotion Board (HPB) now tracks the distribution of fitness trackers daily to detect excess stocks building up, after it wasted $5.39 million of public funds as a result of trackers not being put to use.
In a parliamentary written reply on Tuesday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said HPB has improved its processes for monitoring the distribution and stocks of its fitness trackers.
Audits as well as physical stock checks of the trackers are now done twice a year instead of annually, and excess inventory from previous years will be counted towards providing trackers for the following year's activities.
"Moving forward, HPB will be more conservative in its projections of the number of fitness trackers to be procured. Any additional purchase of trackers will be done only when excess bookings are received from participants," said Mr Ong.
He was replying to Workers' Party MP Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC), who asked if HPB will consider distributing to the public any still-functional fitness trackers that were among the excess 341,000 it purchased for the National Steps Challenge.
The Auditor-General's Office (AGO) said last month that $5.39 million of public funds was wasted, owing to these 341,000 fitness trackers that were not put to use.
Mr Ong said that of the excess trackers, 120,000 remain functional.
REPLACEMENT
Out of these, 48,000 have been used to replace trackers that are faulty or have expired warranties.
About 3,000 trackers have gone to community partners, companies and government agencies for their health and wellness initiatives.
The remaining 69,000 functional trackers will be used for similar purposes, Mr Ong said.
"Unfortunately, the rest of the excess fitness trackers have been disposed of, as they have exceeded the average useful life or were no longer functional."
The minister said that HPB has broadened the replacement criteria for a programme to exchange these trackers one-for-one.
It will proactively inform participants of the health challenge as well, so that they will come forward to exchange trackers that are defective.
The Straits Times earlier reported that HPB had started offering a one-for-one exchange of fitness trackers for participants of the health challenge from March, after the AGO flagged the excess.
Mr Ong said his ministry will closely monitor the implementation of these measures, and work with HPB to "determine accountability and the prudent use of resources".
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now