Editorial Policy
Last Updated: 12 August 2026
This policy explains how Health in Asia (HiA) produces editorial content. Who writes it. How it is reviewed. How we strive to keep it as independent from the commercial side of our work as possible. And how we update it when something changes, or when we get something wrong.
We have written it plainly because the reader of this page is usually trying to answer one question. Can I trust what I read on this site?
We want you to be able to answer that question with reasons, not just feeling.
Why this policy needs to exist
In our experience, much of the health content patients find in Singapore and the wider region falls short in one of three ways — not because the people producing it act in bad faith, but because of how it appears to be made. Some is generic, translated or repurposed from American or British sources without any nuance as to how care actually works here. Some is written or sponsored by healthcare providers, and understandably written with the commercial purpose of encouraging readers to engage with them. And some is published without any named clinical or academic input, with no way to verify if the information is accurate or up to date.
While such content may still contain useful information, the question is whether it is right for your situation and whether you can rely on it to make a decision about your health
We started writing because we saw instances of this between what patients can find online and what they actually need everywhere, and decided to do something about it. This policy describes our mission to close that gap. And how we aspire to keep ourselves honest while doing it.
What our editorial content is built to do
Every article on HiA exists to do one of three things. Help a reader understand a condition, a symptom, or a test result. Help a reader navigate the healthcare system: referrals, public versus private, Medisave, insurance, second opinions. Or help a reader make a specific decision about which specialist, which procedure, or which care pathway.
Our content does not replace a consultation. It prepares you for one.
We write for the reader who has already searched, already asked friends, and is now trying to make sense of what they found. We assume intelligence. We do not over-explain. We name what is uncertain when it is genuinely uncertain.
Nothing on HiA constitutes medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment for your specific situation and must not be relied on in making any decisions about your health. This applies to editorial articles and to sponsored content alike.
How we stay editorially independent
Our editorial articles are written independently by the HiA editorial team. Sponsors, advertisers, and commercial partners do not commission editorial articles, suggest topics, or review editorial drafts before publication.
When a specialist or doctor is mentioned in an editorial article, it is because their expertise, perspective, or work serves the reader on that topic. The editorial team draws from the full population of qualified specialists or doctors practising in Singapore, not only from those in the HiA Care Concierge network. The decision is editorial. The specialist or doctor does not pay to be featured in editorial articles.
What we want to be straightforward about is what happens after a reader chooses to engage the HiA Care Concierge team. When a reader books a specialist through HiA, the specialist pays us a fixed fee for the work involved in patient management. That work includes obtaining preliminary information from the patient to obtain a broad understanding of their situation, providing suggested specialists for diagnosis and treatment, scheduling, coordinating any follow-up, and addressing queries the patient may have about the entire process.
The fee is a fixed amount agreed in advance. It is paid for the patient management service HiA delivers. It is not a share of the specialist's professional fees, and it does not change based on what the specialist charges the patient for clinical care.
Editorial decisions about which specialists or doctors to mention in articles are made by the editorial team, independently of any commercial relationship with the HiA Care Concierge team.
How we handle sponsored content and doctor advertising
HiA publishes two kinds of content. Editorial articles, which work under the rules above. And sponsored content, which is paid for by a doctor, clinic, hospital, or other commercial party, and is clearly labelled as such. As mentioned above, none of our editorial content is sponsored.
Every piece of sponsored content on HiA carries a visible label at the top of the page identifying it as sponsored, and naming the sponsor. Doctor and clinic advertisements that appear inside or alongside editorial articles are clearly labelled and identifiable as advertisements. We also do not run sponsored content that is designed to look like editorial content. The label is there so you can always tell which is which.
Sponsored content is created at the sponsor's request. The sponsor pays HiA for the placement. We disclose this here, in plain language, because the reader has the right to know how a piece of content came to exist before reading it.
What sponsored content can do. It can describe a clinic, a doctor, or a service. It can explain what a particular treatment involves. It can provide information the sponsor wants the reader to have. The same applies to doctor and clinic advertisements.
What sponsored content cannot do. Our sponsors are responsible for ensuring their advertising content complies with the Healthcare Services (Advertisement) Regulations 2021. We additionally screen every placement and will decline anything that does not meet them. This means such content does not include any reviews, testimonials, endorsements, before-and-after photographs, superlative statements such as "best" or "leading", unverified outcome claims, or pressure tactics. Every piece of sponsored content and every doctor or clinic advertisement is reviewed against these regulations before it is published, for the reader's protection and for the sponsor's regulatory safety. If a sponsor wants to publish content which contravenes the Healthcare Services Act 2020 of Singapore, we inform them that we cannot proceed and the placement does not run.
What editorial articles do not do. Editorial articles are not influenced by who sponsors what. Sponsors cannot request favourable editorial coverage. Sponsors cannot request that competing doctors or clinics be excluded from editorial articles. A sponsor's commercial relationship with HiA does not affect whether they are mentioned in editorial articles, and does not affect what is said about them or about any other doctor.
If an editorial article on a health topic appears on the same page as a sponsored block from a doctor working in that field, the sponsored block was sold against the topic, not against the article. The editorial team writes the article. The commercial team places the ad. Neither team influences the other's work.
If you ever see a piece of content on HiA where you cannot tell whether it is editorial or sponsored, tell us, and we will fix it.
Who writes and reviews our content
Editorial articles are written by HiA staff editors and a group of vetted health writers. Our writers are healthcare writers, science communicators, and former or current clinicians who write part-time. Every writer's full name, role, and relevant background is listed on the article they have written.
We distinguish clearly between two contributor types. Healthcare writers research and write articles using trusted sources. Medical reviewers, who are practising doctors, specialists, allied health professionals, or registered pharmacists in Singapore, review articles for clinical accuracy before publication. Both roles are credited separately on the article, with qualifications and current practice listed.
This distinction matters. A healthcare writer is not pretending to be a doctor. A medical reviewer is not pretending to have written the article. Role transparency is how we earn trust.
The sources we use
We cite peer-reviewed medical journals, clinical practice guidelines from recognised specialty societies, and guidance from the Ministry of Health Singapore, the Health Sciences Authority, the Singapore Medical Council, and equivalent regional regulatory bodies. We use research and clinical resources from academic medical centres including SingHealth and the National University Health System.
We are cautious with sources that have commercial interests in the content area. Industry-funded studies are cited where appropriate, with the funding disclosed in the article. We do not cite content farms, anonymous health blogs, or social media posts as primary sources for clinical claims.
The full source list for every article appears at the bottom of the page.
How we choose what to cover
Our coverage is driven by what readers in Singapore and the region actually search for, navigate, or struggle with. We monitor the questions patients ask our Care Concierge team, the search terms readers use to find our articles, and the gaps in the information landscape that affect real decisions.
We prioritise topics where we consider that the information presently available to the public is more often than not inaccurate, generic, or commercially compromised, and where better information could change a patient's outcome.
How we handle uncertainty
Medicine is full of areas where the evidence is incomplete or contested. When we write about these areas, we say so. We do not present uncertain findings as settled. We do not paper over disagreement between guidelines. We tell the reader where the limits of current knowledge are, and we direct them to a specialist when a personal decision needs more than what an article can give. This is also why our editorial articles should not form any basis, and should instead only provide the necessary context prior to obtaining to obtaining a medical diagnosis, for you to make an informed decision about your health.
Our language choices
We write in British English throughout. We use Singapore healthcare terminology such as: GP, specialist, polyclinic, A&E, restructured hospital, MediSave, MediShield Life. We do not use American medical terminology unless we are specifically discussing the American healthcare system.
We aim for plain language without losing precision. We avoid fear-based urgency, manufactured scarcity, and clinical jargon used as a substitute for explanation. Where a medical term is necessary, we define it in plain language the first time it appears.
We use respectful, non-stigmatising language about weight, mental health, lifestyle factors, and chronic illness. Health touches every reader differently. We write without judgement.
How we update our content
Health information changes. Guidelines are revised, drugs are approved or withdrawn, and clinical understanding evolves. Every article on HiA carries a published date, a last medically reviewed date, and where relevant, a last updated date. The dates are not decorative. They tell you when the article was last checked against current evidence.
Our medical review team re-reviews evergreen content on a rolling schedule. We update articles when guidelines change, when a drug or device status changes, or when a reader flags an inaccuracy that we verify.
When we correct a meaningful error, the correction is noted at the top of the article, dated, and explained briefly.
How to flag a problem
If you find something on HiA that is inaccurate, outdated, or unclear, write to us at hi@healthinasia.com. A staff editor reads every message. We investigate, correct where needed, and respond.
This is not a customer service line. It is an editorial line. We treat reader feedback as an important mechanism for keeping our work accurate.
Any personal information you share in correspondence with the editorial team is handled in accordance with HiA's privacy policy.
A note on medical advice
We stress that our editorial articles only describe conditions, options, and decision-making frameworks at a general level. They are not a substitute for a consultation with a qualified medical practitioner who knows your history and is able to provide you with an accurate diagnosis and specific advice or treatment.
If you are unwell, please see a doctor. If you are not sure which specialist to see, our Care Concierge team can help you – please reach out to us here.