Janil Puthucheary on mental health support touchpoints

First-stop touchpoints will be rolled out to support individuals early and facilitate access to higher-tier mental health services when needed. One of them is a new national mental health helpline and textline service. It will be introduced in mid-2025 to offer psychological first aid for those facing mental distress. Another new initiative is a Positive Use Guide on Technology and Social Media, which will be ready in the first half of 2025. It will guide healthy and positive uses of technology and social media and provide recommendations to mitigate their potential negative impact. The Ministry of Digital Development and Information and Infocomm Media Development Authority are studying whether further requirements, such as age assurance, are needed to prevent children and youths from accessing age-inappropriate content on online communications services. Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary gave this update in reply to an MP’s questions in Parliament on Wednesday (Oct 16).