Why We Partnered

Why We Partnered with Protocol: Making Preventive Care Proactive, Personal, and Grounded in Real Clinical Data

April 13, 2026
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Why We Partnered

Why We Partnered with Protocol: Making Preventive Care Proactive, Personal, and Grounded in Real Clinical Data

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Why We Partnered with Protocol: Making Preventive Care Proactive, Personal, and Grounded in Real Clinical Data
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Singaporeans live longer than almost anyone on earth, ~85 years on average [1]. But longevity without vitality is a hollow achievement. Healthy life expectancy in Singapore lags behind by nearly a decade: women can expect roughly 10 years of chronic illness or disability in their later life, and men around 8 [2]. One in three residents already suffers from hypertension or hyperlipidaemia, and chronic disease prevalence is projected to keep climbing as the population ages. By 2030, one in four citizens will be aged 65 and above [3].

Department of Statistics - Singapore, June 2025

The question Singapore is now confronting is not how to add more years to life, but how to add more life to those years. Protocol Health is built to answer that question. We are excited to announce our partnership with Protocol as they build Singapore's leading preventive health platform.

Singapore's Healthcare Equation Is Changing

Singapore is approaching "super-aged" status as early as 2026 [3]. This is an urgent structural shift already reshaping healthcare demand in real time. Three forces are converging.

The burden of ageing is becoming metabolic. Chronic conditions are compounding across the population. Obesity prevalence has increased significantly over the past decade, sarcopenia affects more than half of older adults in clinical settings , and the gap between lifespan and healthspan continues to widen [4]. These are conditions that develop through midlife, often undetected, and accelerate with age. The earlier they are identified, the more effectively they can be managed.

Policy is catching up. The Singapore government has made a decisive pivot toward prevention. Healthier SG, the national preventive care initiative, has enrolled over 1.3 million residents since its 2023 launch, signalling a structural shift in how the system thinks about care: sustained doctor-patient relationships, lifestyle-led intervention, and early risk detection rather than late-stage treatment. Government healthcare spending could reach SGD 30 billion annually by 2030 [5], and much of the incremental spend is being directed toward keeping people healthy rather than treating them once they are not.

Consumers are willing to pay. 51% of APAC consumers now express willingness to pay more out of pocket for healthcare in exchange for better outcomes, experiences, and efficiency; a figure that rises to 58% among Gen Z [6] . In Singapore, where private medical inflation is projected at 16.9% in 2026, this consumer appetite is translating into real demand for alternatives that offer clinical depth, convenience, and continuity of care [7].

Protocol - a Health OS, Not a Health Check

Protocol is rebuilding what a health check-up can be: from a one-time event into an ongoing relationship.

It starts with the Core Health Test, a comprehensive diagnostic screening covering 100+ biomarkers, body composition analysis, and a clinical consultation with a doctor. The result is a living baseline: a detailed map of your metabolic, hormonal, and cardiovascular health that becomes the foundation for everything that follows. At SGD 649 for an annual membership, it is designed to catch slow-moving metabolic and hormonal shifts that don't present symptoms until they've already done damage.

Based on what the baseline reveals, patients work with their doctor to address what's been found: whether that's a structured weight management program for metabolic risk, hormone optimisation for clinically diagnosed deficiencies, nutritional guidance for correctable gaps, or simply a monitoring plan for markers that need watching. A complimentary re-test at six months closes the loop, measuring real change against the original baseline and adjusting the care plan accordingly. Patients stay under continuous clinical oversight, with scheduled reviews, health coaching, and treatment pathways that evolve as their data does.

This architecture is what sets Protocol apart. Singapore's preventive health landscape remains fragmented between screening clinics that monetise one-off assessments and treatment platforms that prescribe without deep diagnostic context. Protocol stitches these together by first understanding your health in full, and then managing it over time, all within one platform and one clinical team. No handoffs and no gaps between what's measured and what's acted on.

The pattern has been validated globally by companies such as Function Health, Neko Health, Prenuvo, and Fountain Life. Across all of them, the thesis holds: anchor on deep diagnostics, maintain a longitudinal relationship, and retention compounds. Protocol brings this model to Singapore and closes the gap these platforms leave open by connecting diagnostics directly to treatment and ongoing care under one roof.

Why We Are Backing Protocol

At DSG Consumer Partners, Healthy Living & Longevity is a core investment theme — and Protocol sits squarely at its centre. We back insurgent consumer brands that meet people where they are headed, and in healthcare, that direction is unmistakable: from episodic treatment to continuous optimisation, from reactive intervention to proactive prevention.

Protocol is not creating a new behaviour. It is meeting an emerging demand inflection at a time when the structural conditions — demographic urgency, government alignment through Healthier SG, and rising consumer willingness to pay for outcomes — have all converged. The platform is well positioned to expand across adjacent preventive and longevity verticals while maintaining a unified, data-driven care architecture. The longer a patient stays with Protocol, the richer their health record becomes — more data means more precise care, earlier detection of emerging risks, and a relationship that gets harder to replicate over time.

We are proud to partner with Mehdi and the Protocol team as they build the future of preventive care in Singapore.

[1] The Whole Health Practice, "Bridging the Healthspan Lifespan Gap," January 2025

[2] Fyt Consulting, "Singapore in Numbers: How Healthy is Singapore?", February 2025

[3] Ministry of Health Singapore, National Population Health Survey 2024

[4] Ministry of Health Singapore, "Ageing in the Community"

[5] The Straits Times, August 2025

[6] Bain & Company, Asia-Pacific Front Line of Healthcare 2024 Report

[7] WTW, 2026 Global Medical Trends Report, November 2025

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