Last updated: August 2026
The regulation behind the rule
Regulation 5 of the Healthcare Services (Advertisement) Regulations 2021, under the Healthcare Services Act, prohibits before/after photos or videos in healthcare advertising outright — regardless of a disclaimer, blurring, or "results may vary" caption. The one carve-out is a doctor showing such images privately during a real patient consultation, which sits outside the definition of advertising entirely.
Regulation 5 covers the same broader category of restricted claims — guarantees, comparative superiority, laudatory language — that before/after imagery falls under.
What Singapore clinics use instead
Educational content explaining the treatment itself, practitioner credentials and qualifications, and clinic environment shots. None of these imply a specific outcome, so none carry the Regulation 5 restriction. This is the same substitution principle our Singapore aesthetic clinic marketing programme builds creative around from the first draft.
How this compares to Malaysia
The same underlying restriction exists in Malaysia under KKM/MOH guidance — see the Malaysia version of this guide. Singapore's Regulation 5 is stricter in one specific way:
it has no ambiguity around framing or captioning, whereas some Malaysian discussion of the rule focuses on "outcome implication." For a full cross-market breakdown across Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, see the medical advertising rules comparison.
Other restrictions that travel with this one
Regulation 5 also restricts patient testimonials, laudatory/superlative language, guarantees and comparative claims — before/after imagery is rarely the only issue in a rejected ad. Our MOH Ad Checker runs planned copy against the full rule set, not just this one restriction.
Check your own ad copy against MOH's full rule set.
Free self-check for Singapore clinic advertising — flags before/after imagery and every other Regulation 5 restriction.
- Cite this
- shakalakaa (Plixitt Solutions). “Can I Use Before/After Photos in Ads in Singapore?”
- https://shakalakaa.com/sg/resources/can-i-use-before-and-after-photos-in-ads · Updated 2026-10-10
- Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
shakalakaa (Plixitt Solutions). "Can I Use Before/After Photos in Ads in Singapore?" https://shakalakaa.my/resources/can-i-use-before-and-after-photos-in-ads-singapore. Updated 2026-10-10. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.