The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) was formed on 1 April 2001 as a statutory board of the Singapore Ministry of Health with the integration of five specialised agencies: the Centre for Drug Evaluation; Institute of Science and Forensic Medicine; National Pharmaceutical Administration; Product Regulation Department; and Singapore Blood Transfusion Service. Its vision is to be the leading innovative authority protecting and advancing national health and safety. 

The scale and scope of the agency's work spans a wide spectrum of scientific and professional functions. These would typically be managed in a number of separate and distinct agencies elsewhere.  But the agency's set-up is unique in that these functions are all housed in a single organisation.

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. 

The Health Products Regulation Group of HSA contributes to the development of biomedical sciences in Singapore by administering a robust, scientific and responsive regulatory framework. It ensures that drugs, innovative therapeutics, medical devices and health-related products are wisely regulated and meet appropriate safety, quality and efficacy standards. The agency also contributes to the formulation of national drug policies.

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.

HSA's Blood Services Group is the national blood service of Singapore and is responsible for securing the country's blood supply safety and sufficiency. It runs the Bloodbank@HSA, which collects, processes, tests and distributes blood and blood components to all hospitals in Singapore.  HSA has maintained a strategic partnership with the Singapore Red Cross, which has been responsible since 2001 for managing the National Blood Donor Recruitment and Retention Programme.

The agency is the reference for immunohaematology, tissue typing and transfusion medicine in the country. It offers specialised immunohaematology services and tissue typing services to healthcare institutions in Singapore and the region. It also provides clinical consultative services in the speciality of transfusion medicine. In recent years, it has embarked on setting up of a Cell Therapy Facility to support the new area of clinical cell therapy.

The Applied Sciences Group of HSA, as the national authority in forensic medicine and science, analytical testing and chemical metrology, supports regulatory and compliance agencies in the administration of justice and safeguarding of public health. It provides a one-stop forensic and consultancy service for criminal and medico-legal investigations as well as civil disputes. It also runs analytical testing laboratories, providing specialised scientific and investigative services to government agencies, healthcare institutions and private companies.

The range of services cover 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. Toxicological services are also provided to hospitals. HSA has been a designated institute for developing and promoting chemical metrology in Singapore since 2008.

HSA has established strong collaborations through Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with international partners. This is part of its commitment to enhance inter-agency regulatory efforts on the global front. Its international partners include agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, Swiss Medic, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration, the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration, the Korean Food and Administration, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency of Japan, as well the Paul-Erhlich Institute of Germany.

HSA's competencies have been recognised by international bodies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO). Its professional groups have being identified as WHO Collaborating Centres in the following core areas of expertise - Transfusion Medicine, Drug Quality Assurance, Food Contaminants Monitoring and Tobacco Testing and Research.
 
As testament of its established transfusion medicine expertise, HSA is internationally accredited by the AABB (formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks), and also the American Society of Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics. It is a founding member of the Asian Pacific Blood Network, and participates actively in the many Working Parties of the International Society of Blood Transfusion and in the International Haemovigilance Network.

Apart from being accredited under the Singapore Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (SINGLAS), HSA has also received endorsements for its forensic medicine and forensic sciences capabilities from various established global agencies. It is the first agency outside of the United States of America to be accredited by the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME), and it also accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD). The agency is also a United Nations International Drug Control Programme Reference Laboratory for Biological Specimens and Seized Materials.

2009 saw the establishment of the HSA Academy, a set-up that will spur the agency's next phase of growth and be a key enabler in transforming the organisation as it continues to push the boundaries of scientific and professional excellence. Still in its nascent stage, a key priority of the Academy is to spearhead the development of the agency's thought leadership in its various professional areas, thus creating avenues to engage internal and external experts through think tank meetings and forums. It will also help consolidate, support and develop HSA's research capabilities. These efforts are part of a wider vision of enabling Singapore to set the direction and pace for new approaches and frameworks in health products regulatory science, transfusion medicine and the applied sciences.