Manatū Hauora's (Ministry of Health) role as chief strategic advisor and kaitiaki (steward) of Aotearoa New Zealand's health and disability system has been strengthened and some of the things it does changed on 1 July 2022.
Visit the Manatū Hauora / Ministry of Health website(external link) for more information.
The role of Director-General of Health continues.
Statutory roles such as the Director of Public Health and Director of Mental Health remain within the Ministry.
A new Public Health Agency(external link) within Manatū Hauora (Ministry of Health) leads population and public health policy, strategy, regulatory, intelligence, surveillance and monitoring functions across the system.
This sees more emphasis on the determinants of health such as employment and housing which means working more closely with relevant government agencies and community partners and using intelligence and monitoring to strengthen the system to enable New Zealanders to live longer, healthier lives.
You can read more about the Public Health Agency on the Manatū Hauora / Ministry of Health(external link)’s website(external link).
Manatū Hauora (Ministry of Health) is committed to ensuring the current health and disability system delivers through the transition for all New Zealanders, with a strong focus on leading the COVID-19 health response, supporting the Government's elimination strategy, and the successful roll out of the vaccine.
Keeping the health system running is one of the Health Minister’s top priorities. Focus on this priority is retained through delivering against our Whakamaua: Māori Health Action Plan 2020–25(external link)(external link) and Ola Manuia: Pacific Health & Wellbeing Action Plan 2020–25(external link)(external link).
Changes to the structures of the system will not have an immediate impact on how, where and when New Zealanders receive care, or where and how you work, if you're a member of the health workforce.
