Health Sciences Authority
Logo of HSA
Agency overview
Jurisdiction	Government of Singapore
Headquarters	11 Outram Road, Singapore 169078
Agency executives	Professor John Wong, Chairman A/Prof John Lim, Chief Executive Officer
Parent agency	Ministry of Health
Website
www.hsa.gov.sg

The Health Sciences Authority (Abbreviation: HSA; Chinese: 卫生科学局); Malay: Penguasa Sains Kesihatan) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Health of the Singapore Government.

Overview

HSA is a multi-disciplinary agency. It applies medical, pharmaceutical and scientific expertise to protect and advance public health and safety. The organisation serves three key functions: It is the national regulator for health products; it secures the national blood supply through its operation of the national blood bank – Bloodbank@HSA; and it represents the national expertise in forensic medicine, forensic science and analytical chemistry testing capabilities. These support other regulatory and compliance agencies in the administration of justice and in safeguarding public health.

Background

The Health Sciences Authority headquarters at Outram Road, Singapore.

The HSA was formed on 1 April 2001 with the integration of five specialised agencies under the Ministry of Health: the Centre for Drug Evaluation; Institute of Science and Forensic Medicine; National Pharmaceutical Administration; Product Regulation Department; and Singapore Blood Transfusion Service.

Today, 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. Each group functions as Divisions comprising branches, units and laboratories. The three professional groups work with the corporate HQ that provides strategic direction and corporate support for advancing the organisation.

Role

Health Products Regulation

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. The agency also contributes to the formulation of national drug policies.

HSA’s risk management system takes into account pre-and-post market precautionary options. On the pre-market front, HSA administers clinical trials for new drugs and grants approvals for these products before they are marketed in Singapore. Audits on good manufacturing and distribution practices are also conducted.

On the post-market front, HSA monitors health products in the market through regulatory surveillance activities. The agency also carries out investigations and takes enforcement action against illegal activities related to unregistered, counterfeit and adulterated health products. HSA has an established and active pharmacovigilance monitoring programme that draws on its network of healthcare professionals and overseas regulators. This allows HSA to initiate targeted and prompt alert action in response to reported adverse drug events. This allows the agency to expedite the isolation of such problems and minimise harm to public health and safety.

In support of the national objective to reduce smoking, HSA enforces the laws that prohibit tobacco advertisements, smoking by youths under 18 years old as well as the sale of tobacco products to youths in this age group.