Debated in Parliament on 19 Sep 2023.
Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Health (a) how does the Government regulate AI and new technologies used for precision medicine in order to protect data privacy and patient confidentiality as well as ensure patient safety; and (b) how does the Government address concerns that customised treatments and precision medicines may increase healthcare costs for patients, compared to cheaper generic drugs.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and precision medicine are all major technological breakthroughs that can potentially transform healthcare. Some of the use cases promise to deliver greater cost efficiency and clinical effectiveness. Other potential uses are less straightforward. There may be a promising new precision medicine which may work only on certain individuals and cost significantly more.
Having said that, the healthcare sector is characterised by very tight regulation. In Singapore, any new technologies, including the use of AI, are regulated by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) as medical devices if they diagnose, manage or treat medical conditions. For example, clinical genetic and genomic services will be regulated as part of the Healthcare Services Act in end 2023. Patient data, including genomic data, are already subject to laws and regulation that safeguard patients’ privacy.
Many precision medicine technologies are still nascent, with many applications that are experimental in nature. The Ministry of Health (MOH) will continue to develop our governance framework and policies to ensure that we can deploy these technologies in healthcare in ethical and clinically and cost-effective ways.
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