Ministry of Health

Major responsibilities of the ministry are to study, draft and formulate laws, regulations, policies and guidelines on health work, review and put forward development plans and strategic goals for health undertakings, formulate technical and health standards and supervise their implementation, study and propose regional health plans, overall plans and coordinate the distribution of national health resources, map out community health service plans and service standards, provide guidance to the implementation of health plans; conduct national health education, draw up plans for the prevention and cure of diseases that pose serious harm to groups of people, organize comprehensive prevention and cure of serious diseases, publicize quarantines against infectious diseases and monitor infectious disease catalog; study and offer guidance to reform of the medical structure, stipulate vocational standards for medical staff, medical quality and service standards and supervise their implementation; review and draw up key national plans for medical science and education development, organize key national scientific research projects in medicine and health, direct the popularization and application of medical scientific research achievements. It also oversees the State Traditional Chinese Medicine Administration.

The ministry is made up of ten departments: the general affairs office, personnel department, planning and finance department, health legal system and supervision department, grassroots health and care of women and children department, medical administrative department, disease control department, science, technology and education department, international cooperation department and health care bureau.