Federal Ministry of Health (Germany)

The Federal Ministry of Health is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is the highest German federal government department responsible for health. The ministry is officially located in Bonn and with a second office, which houses the ministry's management, located in Berlin.

History

The Federal Ministry of Health was founded in 1961; in 1969 it was merged with the Federal Ministry for Family and Youth to create the new Federal Ministry for Youth, Family and Health.
In 1991, the Federal Ministry of Health was restored. In 2002, it was expanded to include social affairs and renamed "Federal Ministry of Health and Social Security". It was headed by the Federal Minister for Health and Social Security. Its portfolio included one part of the former Federal Ministry of Labour and the Social Order. The other part of the latter was added to the portfolio of the newly created Federal Ministry for Economics and Labour. Under the grand coalition headed by Angela Merkel in 2005, the portfolio reshuffle was reversed and responsibility for social affairs was moved back to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social affairs.

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The Federal Ministry of Health is responsible for:

maintaining the effectiveness and efficiency of the statutory health insurance and long-term care insurance systems
maintaining and enhancing the quality of the health care system
strengthening the interests of patients
maintaining economic viability and stabilization of contribution levels
preventive and prophylactic healthcare
the Protection against Infection Act
establishing guidelines for the manufacture, clinical trial, approval, distribution channels and monitoring of medicines and medical devices. The objectives are:
* quality, medical efficacy and safety
* safety of biological medical products such as blood products
narcotics and addiction risk prevention
prevention, rehabilitation and disability policy
* medical and occupational rehabilitation
* disability law
* providing assistance to the disabled and promoting their interests
European and international health policy, including the work of the Federal Government Narcotics Officer and the patients' ombudsman.

The Federal Ministry of Health is responsible for the comprehensive supervision of the following governmental institutions:

The Federal Ministry of Health is also responsible for the non-disciplinary supervision of

and the legal supervision of the umbrella organizations of the statutory health insurance schemes.