NHG, community retail pharmacies partner for preventive health services

The collaboration will initially focus on smoking cessation counselling.

Singapore’s National Healthcare Group (NHG), Guardian Singapore Health & Beauty, Watsons Singapore Personal Care Stores, and Unity Pharmacy have signed a collaborative agreement to increase access to preventive health counselling and medication therapy management services.

The collaboration will initially focus on smoking cessation counselling, with patients referred by NHG institutions to their preferred pharmacy. The public can also enrol directly at participating outlets.

According to Ms Lee Shwu Chin, Senior Cluster Pharmacy Manager at Watsons, each smoking cessation session will last 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the complexity of the case. 

Moreover, pharmacists will gather detailed information about each patient's smoking habits to customise the counselling sessions for more effective support.

The patient's smoking status will be monitored at three- and six-month intervals and updated to the referring NHG institutions on their progress.

The programme aims to reduce smoking prevalence in Central and North Singapore from 8.8% to 8% by 2030, with a target of helping 2,000 smokers quit each year.