Organisation of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs
The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs employs approximately 260 members of staff. About 35 of these are political appointees and 225 non-politically appointed officials.
Political leadership
Göran Hägglund is Minister for Health and Social Affairs and head of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. The Ministry has three other ministers: Minister for Public Administration and Housing Stefan Attefall, Minister for Social Security Ulf Kristersson and Minister for Children and the Elderly Maria Larsson.
In addition to the ministers, the political leadership includes four state secretaries. They are responsible for various policy areas directly under the ministers, and assist the ministers in planning, coordinating and monitoring the Ministrys activities.
Political staff
The ministers and state secretaries have a staff of political advisers who assist them in policy work, providing background material, political assessments, planning and coordination, media contacts and correspondence.
Non-political appointees
The Ministry has a Director-General for Administrative Affairs and two Directors-General for Legal Affairs who ensure that matters at the Ministry are processed in a legally correct and uniform manner, and that drafts are prepared for legislation and other statutes and regulations.
The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs has six divisions for specific policy areas and four divisions for support and coordination. Their task is to provide support to the political leadership.
Policy divisions
The policy divisions lay the groundwork for Government decisions. This includes working on government bills, budget and governance issues concerning government agencies, and development work in the form of inquiries of their own, serving on other inquires, etc.
Divisions for support and coordination
The Legal Unit deals with issues of a legal nature and matters that concern laws and other statutes, reviews the way the Ministry prepares various matters, and is responsible for issues concerning public procurement.
The other divisions deal with support and coordination of administration, internal budget and personnel issues, budgets, research, analysis, external and internal information activities, coordination of cross-divisional issues, and coordination of EU and international issues.
