SINGAPORE, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Singapore has brought together 10 social service agencies in a three-year partnership to make support more accessible amid growing concerns over behavioral addictions, including excessive gaming, pornography consumption and problematic cyber or social media use.
The program, brokered by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS), aims to improve access to services, particularly in western Singapore, while building on the strengths of existing counseling providers, the council said in a release on Thursday.
The partnership will test triage, primary interventions and referral pathways for complex cases, allowing individuals to receive appropriate assessments and services earlier and more seamlessly.
Addiction treatment center WE CARE Community Services will provide training, clinical supervision and mentoring to the other nine agencies.
The NCSS identified behavioral addiction support as an "emerging unmet need" in 2025 and subsequently conducted research and engaged stakeholders to better understand gaps in services.
"Behavioral addictions often go unseen until they affect relationships, education, work, or wellbeing," said NCSS Chief Executive Officer Lim Shung Yar.
Social service agencies reported more than 520 new behavioral addiction cases to the NCSS in 2020, rising to more than 780 in 2024, according to the council. Shame, stigma and denial can contribute to delays of several years between the onset of addictive behavior and treatment, it said.
Service providers are also seeing increasingly younger clients, as exposure to potentially addictive online behaviors begins earlier. The accessibility and anonymity of digital platforms may further contribute to the problem, the NCSS said. ■