Keeping you safe across the healthcare landscape
From health products to healthcare professionals and healthcare services (e.g. hospitals, clinics and nursing homes), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has in place rules and requirements to keep you safe.
We take a risk-based approach to regulating health products and service providers. In a risk-based approach, rules are stricter for products and services which pose a higher risk of harm when they are not used properly. Whereas there may be no regulations at all for products and services that are generally safe.
Find out more about how we keep you safe here.
You play an important role too!
You play an important role too, in ensuring your own safety and wellness when using health products and services. We all want to look good and feel good. It is easy to be tempted by deals that promise results or prices that are too good to be true. These deals may involve products that are poorly manufactured, or services delivered by unqualified personnel. Think twice before you buy, this is your health!
Quick tips to help you make a safer decision:
- AVOID buying from suspicious sources.
- BEWARE of deals that are “too good to be true”. They probably are.
- CHECK the claims – not all are safe.
- DISCUSS with your doctor or dentist.
See more tips here!
Have questions or see something suspicious? Contact us here.
Keeping you safe, in a snapshot
Health Products:
The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) regulates health products via legislation, and you can find out more about Health Products Regulation here. Regulated health products include therapeutic products, medical devices, complementary health products and cosmetic products. These products are used by healthcare professionals to treat patients, and some of these products can be purchased directly from pharmacies and retail stores.
Healthcare Professionals:
Our healthcare professionals (i.e. doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, optometrists, opticians, allied health professionals, and traditional chinese medicine practitioners) are also regulated by law (e.g. Medical Registration Act) through their respective Professional Councils and Boards which:
- Govern and regulate the professional conduct and ethics of their professionals,
- Maintain Registers which can be accessed by the public to search for registered professionals, and
- Run continuing education programmes to ensure that their registered professionals stay relevant.
For more information on registered healthcare professionals, please click on the links below to visit the websites of their respective Councils and Professional Boards:
Healthcare Services:
Lastly, MOH regulates healthcare services (hospitals, medical and dental clinics, clinical and X-ray laboratories and nursing homes) under the current Healthcare Services Act (HCSA). You can find out more about our licensing regime here.
What about healthcare-related areas that are currently not regulated by MOH?
If you have encountered unfair and unethical retail practices such as aggressive sales tactics and issues relating to pre-payment of packages, you may approach the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE).
In serious cases where a criminal offence is made out (e.g. fraud, theft and impersonation), the Penal Code administered by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) may also apply to safeguard the public.