Dr Fan Ning has always envisioned a doctor’s role as extending far beyond prescribing drugs, administering injections, or performing surgeries. He believes that doctors can offer something far more powerful — love, care, hope, and transformative changes in life.
To put this vision into action, Dr Fan founded Health In Action, an organisation dedicated to addressing community health needs by developing primary care projects and ensuring access to appropriate health services. He is a strong advocate for addressing the social determinants of health through initiatives that integrate health considerations into all public policies. Dr Fan highlights the immense potential of collaboration across all sectors to tackle pressing public health challenges such as obesity, loneliness, pandemics, chronic illnesses, and cancers.
Dr Fan believes the future of primary care lies in empowering community members and private sectors. He has championed innovative public health models, such as the “Healthy Neighbourhood Kitchen Project”, which he co-developed with Caritas. This initiative successfully influenced the government to establish community living rooms to support residents of subdivided flats. Currently, Dr Fan is advocating for the development of various social prescription programmes across different sectors, aiming to build a healthy, connected community and utilise social capital to foster a healthier city.
In addition, Dr Fan founded “Forget Thee Not”, a non-profit organisation offering comprehensive end-of-life support services. These include home-based dying support, the “Three Treasures of Peace”, and personalised green funeral services. He is now piloting the development of a compassionate end-of-life community to meet the urgent needs of families facing death and dying outside hospital settings.
Dr Fan Ning’s journey in public health began with a pivotal moment in the operating theatre. While treating a 16-year-old boy with acute cholecystitis caused by a 1cm gallstone, he realised that health issues often stem from systemic inequities. He recalled witnessing a mother in a subdivided flat struggling to provide a healthy meal for her children — not because she didn’t understand what a healthy plate was, but because she had no access to the resources to make it happen. He also recognised that public health challenges, such as smoking, are no longer confined to construction sites or local betting branches — they are prevalent even outside high-end complexes like IFC and ICC.
These experiences underscored the limitations of traditional public health approaches and inspired Dr Fan to seek new strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the possibility of empowering diverse sectors to become key stakeholders in addressing public health issues. Over the past decade, Dr Fan has worked tirelessly on community initiatives aimed at shifting the focus from hospital-based care to prevention.
In his talk, Dr Fan will share insights from his extensive community work and advocate for a paradigm shift in healthcare. He believes every medical professional must adopt a preventive mindset — focusing on alleviating suffering before it begins, rather than just treating it after it occurs.
