Infectious Diseases Act

The Infectious Diseases Act (IDA) is the principal legislation for the prevention and control of infectious diseases in Singapore. This legislation is jointly administered by the Ministry of Health, Singapore Food Agency and the National Environment Agency.

For the prevention and control of infectious diseases in Singapore, the IDA empowers the Director-General of Health to undertake a range of public health measures. Such measures include requiring the notification of infectious diseases, isolation and treatment of infected persons, conduct of contact tracing and quarantine of close contacts, and disinfection of premises.

The IDA allows for a hierarchy of responses to address outbreaks of differing severity. This is through the provision of situational tiers in the IDA, including the declaration of a Public Health Threat or Public Health Emergency by the Minister for Health, and the response measures that can be taken. These situational tiers will facilitate nimbler management of different stages of an outbreak or pandemic.

For the prevention of the introduction of infectious diseases into Singapore, the IDA allows the Director-General of Health and the Director-General of Public Health to stipulate the necessary measures required to prevent the introduction or importation of infectious diseases into Singapore through its ports of entry.

View the full Infectious Disease Act.

Download the List of Infectious Diseases Legally Notifiable under the IDA [PDF, 126KB].