Singapore’s The Business Times featured SIRE on their 22 October issue in the wellness section.
Reporter Tay Suan Chiang wrote about two telemedicine startups that make it easier for men and women to seek sex-specific health issues.
SIRE founder Dr. Chan Jun Yang spoke about his journey from being a doctor to founding SIRE.
His time in Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Sengkang General Hospital taught him that men faced challenges of stigma, slow response and received aloof treatment.
“Many of them would share their frustrations about getting help – from having to wait awkwardly in crowded waiting rooms, getting turned away by insensitive healthcare staff, and very long wait times to get affordable treatment,” he told The Business Times.
“With 51 per cent of men in Singapore suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED), men’s health should definitely be made much more accessible.”
SIRE is doctor founded and patient-experience first
Dr Chan explained that SIRE is different because ““it is the only men’s health telemedicine service built by doctors, and the whole experience is supervised by registered health professionals”.
To fulfill men’s need for prompt service and privacy, SIRE delivers medication by hand in three working days and medication is sent in discreet packaging.
Since starting the telehealth clinic in December 2020, SIRE has seen a thousand patients from 21 to 70 years old, all through online methods of surveys and video calls with one of the in-house doctors.
Gender expectations are changing
Dr Chan also told the newspaper that he’s noticing that men have a much more positive mentality towards receiving treatment in order to enhance their relationships with their partners, but there is still an undercurrent of sensitivity when speaking about this topic.
This is where SIRE comes in.
By being a technology-first men’s health clinic with a familiar e-commerce front, Dr Chan hopes to cut through the barriers that “that used to hinder people from moving forward.”
Women’s telehealth
The Business Times also featured OfZoey, which is the female-serving counterpart of Ofnoah.
Ofnoah is a digital health clinic for men that also started in 2020, catering to men and men’s health. Ofnoah’s reviews average out to almost five stars on Google.
Driven by Ofnoah’s success, one of Noah’s founders, Ethel Tan, went on to found Zoey using the same model that led to their success on the men’s health side of their operations.
