Singapore climbs to 7th place in UNAIDS’ COVID-19 Innovation rankings

The city-state ranked first in the Asia Pacific region when it comes to innovative responses to the pandemic.

Singapore climbed four places to seventh in UNAIDS’ COVID-19 Innovation rankings for 2021, making it the top-performing Asia Pacific country.

“The government of Singapore has dealt with the COVID–19 pandemic in a very organized and successful way. This has allowed it to become the most innovative hub in Asia in the context of the COVID–19 pandemic,” the report read.

UNAIDS, partnered with StartupBlink and looked into the categories of life and business adaptation, grants and support initiatives, prevention, diagnostics, information. and treatment.

Singapore scored highly in the categories of diagnostics, prevention, and information; with a total of 15 mapped innovations.

The report cited the government’s TraceTogether App, telehealth startup Bot MD and the RT-qPCR test kit developed by JN Medsys as notable innovations from the Lion City.

“We have been particularly impressed by the success of Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, ranked seventh, ninth, and 14th, respectively, are the top-performing Asian countries and all enjoy positive momentum compared to the previous report,” the report read.