The Ministry of Health established the two Statutory Boards, the Health Promotion Board and the Health Sciences Authority on 1 Apr 2001.
The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) applies medical, pharmaceutical and scientific expertise to protect and advance public health and safety. The organisation serves three key functions:
a] it is the national regulator for health products;
b] it secures the national blood supply through its operation of the national blood bank - Bloodbank@HSA;
c] and it represents the national expertise in forensic medical and scientific, and analytical laboratory expertise that supports regulatory and other compliance agencies in the administration of justice and the safeguarding public health.
The agency’s professional knowledge, skills and competencies are housed in three professional groups: the Health Products Regulation Group; Blood Services Group, and Applied Sciences Group.
The HSA’s Health Products Regulation Group ensures that medicines, medical devices and other health products available in Singapore meet appropriate and acceptable standards in quality, safety and efficacy through a risk management system that takes into account pre-and-post market regulatory systems. It also enforces the laws that prohibit tobacco advertisements, smoking by youths as well as the sale of tobacco products to youths.
The HSA’s Blood Services Group is the national blood service of Singapore and is responsible for the adequacy and safety of the country’s blood supply. It runs the national blood bank, which collects, processes, tests and distributes blood and blood components to all hospitals in Singapore. It is also the reference centre for immunohaematology, tissue typing and transfusion medicine in the country.
The HSA’s Applied Sciences Group provides forensic medical consultancy services in support of death investigation in Singapore, forensic science services such as criminalistics and DNA profiling in support of criminal investigations and illicit drugs control, analytical testing in support of health products regulation, cigarette and tobacco product control; water testing; and food safety regulation.
The Health Promotion Board (HPB) was set up in 2001 and tasked with the mission to build a nation of fit and healthy Singaporeans.
Although Singaporeans today enjoy good health with high life expectancy and low mortality rates, we want to further improve our health status and continue to enjoy good health as we age.
To achieve this, HPB assumes the role of the main driver for national health promotion and disease prevention programmes. The HPB’s goal is to increase the quality and years of healthy life and prevent illness, disability and premature death.
The Board implements programmes that reach out to the population, specifically children, adults and the elderly.
A healthy nation comprises people who can embrace life fully. The HPB is committed to helping Singaporeans attain optimal health through health promotion and disease prevention programmes.