The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW previously MW, ) is a branch of the government of South Korea. The headquarters is in Sejong City. Previously the headquarters were on floors 6 through 12 of the Hyundai Building in Jongno District, Seoul, when they were the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs.

Developments

On December 23, 1994, the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (보건사회부) changed their name to Ministry of Health and Welfare. On February 29, 2008, the ministry merged the National Youth Commission, Prime Minister's Office of Korea, the Family Affairs from Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Centre on Measures for Bipolarization and Livelihood, Ministry of Planning and Budget to become the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs (보건복지가족부). However, on March 19, 2010, the Ministry was reorganized to become the Ministry of Health and Welfare while transferring their responsibilities of overseeing youth and family affairs to Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. However, the Ministry of Health and Welfare still governs Children's affairs. With the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, the legislation has been introduced and passed to expand one of its child agencies, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, into Korea Disease Control and Prevention Administration and to equip the Ministry with two Vice-Ministers - one responsible for welfare and the other public health. These changes will come to effect on 12 September 2020. In September 2024 South Korea's health ministry announced that it was deploying military doctors to assist in some hospital emergency rooms due to a shortage of medical staff due to a doctors strike. October 17, 2024 Ministry of Health and Welfare announced.More than 3,600 people died alone in their homes in South Korea last year,with middle-aged and elderly men accounting for more than half of such deaths.

Work

The main tasks include health care and quarantine, compulsory administration, pharmacist administration, health insurance, basic living insurance, welfare support, social security and social service policies, and population policy to cope with low birth rate and aging child welfare.

Organisation