Alleged Breaches of Advertising Controls in Healthcare Services Act

35 Ms He Ting Ru asked the Minister for Health since the implementation of the relevant provisions of the Healthcare Services Act (a) how many reports of alleged breaches of the advertising controls under the Act have been received by the Ministry; (b) of these, how many have been referred to the relevant authorities for further action including prosecution; and (c) what percentage of these are for practitioners in the mental health space.

Mr Ong Ye Kung: Advertising controls under the Healthcare Services Act 2020 (HCSA) came into force on 26 June 2023 for non-HCSA licensed healthcare service providers and non-registered healthcare professionals. The advertising controls imposes restrictions on them from advertising treatment of diseases or medical conditions.

The restrictions include the use of the title "Doctor" by non-registered healthcare professionals in healthcare advertisements. This requirement is not new and was largely ported over from section 4 of the Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1955.

The Ministry of Health has received and investigated 34 complaints of alleged breaches of the advertising controls and none were against practitioners in the mental health space.