Ministry of Health (Denmark)

Ministry of Health
Sundheds- og Ældreministeriet

Headquarters of the Danish Ministry of Health at Holbergsgade 6 in Copenhagen
Agency overview
Jurisdiction Denmark
Minister responsible
  • Sophie Løhde
Websitehttp://sum.dk

The Danish Ministry of Health (Danish: Sundhedsministeriet)[1] is a Danish governmental ministry responsible for healthcare policy in Denmark. First created as an independent ministry in 1926, it has at various times been combined with the Ministry of the Interior as the Ministry of Interior and Health, most recently in 2022-, and has had various names. The current Minister for Health is Sophie Løhde,[1] and the Permanent Secretary since 11 January 2021 is Svend Særkjær.[2]

Responsibilities

The ministry oversees all aspects of healthcare in Denmark, including hospitals, medical treatments, dispensaries, patient rights, healthcare data collection and medical and research ethics.

History

The ministry was first created in 1926, and since then has several times been merged with the Ministry of the Interior and re-established under various official names. In modern times it was first re-established in September 1987,[3] with responsibilities drawn in part from other ministries, including oversight over foodstuffs, anti-narcotics and anti-alcohol efforts, education of medical personnel, and health care in Greenland—some of these were later reassigned—and was recombined with the Ministry of the Interior in November 2001. In November 2007 it again became an independent ministry under the name Ministerium for Sundhed og Forebyggelse (English: Ministry for Health and Prevention), taking on some responsibilities from the Family Ministry, which was dissolved; the Ministry of the Interior, in turn, was merged into a new Ministry of Welfare (Velfærdsministerium).[3] In 2010 the combined Ministry of Interior and Health was again reconstituted, but the following year the Ministry of the Interior was included in a new Ministry of the Economy and the Interior while the Ministry of Health once more became the Ministry for Health and Prevention. In June 2015 it was renamed the Ministry of Health and the Aged,[3] and acquired some responsibilities from the Social- og Indenrigsministeriet (Ministry of Social affairs and the Interior), the combination of the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior which was created at the same time.[4] In November 2016, under Lars Løkke Rasmussen's third government, it became a separate ministry once more.[5]

List of ministers

No. Portrait Name
(born-died)		 Term of office Political party Government Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
Minister of Health Services
(Minister for Sundhedsvæsenet)
1 Viktor Rubow
(1871–1929)		 14 December 1926 30 April 1929 2 years, 137 days Venstre Madsen-Mygdal [6]
Minister of Building and Health Services
(Minister for byggeri og sundhedsvæsen)
2 Johannes Kjærbøl
(1885–1973)		 13 November 1947 23 November 1947 10 days Social Democrats Hedtoft I [7]
Minister of Health
(Sundhedsminister)
3 Agnete Laustsen
(1935–2018)		 10 September 1987 3 June 1988 267 days Conservative People's Party Schlüter II [8]
4 Elsebeth Kock-Petersen
(born 1949)		 3 June 1988 7 December 1989 1 year, 187 days Venstre Schlüter III [9]
5 Ester Larsen
(1936–2025)		 7 December 1989 25 January 1993 3 years, 49 days Venstre Schlüter III–IV [9][10]
6 Torben Lund
(born 1950)		 25 January 1993 27 September 1994 1 year, 245 days Social Democrats P. N. Rasmussen I [11]
7 Yvonne Herløv Andersen
(born 1942)		 27 September 1994 30 December 1996 2 years, 94 days Centre Democrats P. N. Rasmussen II [12]
8 Birte Weiss
(born 1941)		 30 December 1996 23 March 1998 1 year, 83 days Social Democrats P. N. Rasmussen III [13]
9 Carsten Koch
(born 1945)		 23 March 1998 23 February 2000 1 year, 337 days Social Democrats P. N. Rasmussen IV [14]
10 Sonja Mikkelsen
(born 1955)		 23 February 2000 21 December 2000 302 days Social Democrats P. N. Rasmussen IV [14]
11 Arne Rolighed
(born 1947)		 21 December 2000 27 November 2001 341 days Social Democrats P. N. Rasmussen IV [14]
Minister of the Interior and Health
(Indenrigs- og sundhedsminister)
12 Lars Løkke Rasmussen
(born 1964)		 27 November 2001 23 November 2007 5 years, 361 days Venstre A. F. Rasmussen I–II [15][16]
Minister of Health and Prevention
(Minister for sundhed og forebyggelse)
13 Jakob Axel Nielsen
(born 1967)		 23 November 2007 23 February 2010 2 years, 92 days Conservative People's Party A. F. Rasmussen III
L. L. Rasmussen I		 [17][18]
Minister of the Interior and Health
(Indenrigs- og sundhedsminister)
14 Bertel Haarder
(born 1944)		 23 February 2010 3 October 2011 1 year, 222 days Venstre L. L. Rasmussen I [18]
Minister of Health and Prevention
(Minister for sundhed og forebyggelse)
15 Astrid Krag
(born 1982)		 3 October 2011 30 January 2014 2 years, 119 days Socialist People's Party Thorning-Schmidt I [19]
16 Nick Hækkerup
(born 1968)		 3 February 2014 28 June 2015 1 year, 145 days Social Democrats Thorning-Schmidt II [20]
Minister of Health and Elderly Affairs
(Sundheds- og ældreminister)
17 Sophie Løhde
(born 1983)		 28 June 2015 28 November 2016 1 year, 153 days Venstre L. L. Rasmussen II [21]
Minister of Health
(Sundhedsminister)
18 Ellen Trane Nørby
(born 1980)		 28 November 2016 27 June 2019 2 years, 211 days Venstre L. L. Rasmussen III [22]
Minister of Health and Elderly Affairs
(Sundheds- og ældreminister)
19 Magnus Heunicke
(born 1975)		 27 June 2019 15 December 2022 3 years, 171 days Social Democrats Frederiksen I [23]
Minister of the Interior and Health
(Indenrigs- og sundhedsminister)
17 Sophie Løhde
(born 1983)		 15 December 2022 Incumbent 2 years, 321 days Venstre Frederiksen II [24]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The Danish Ministry of Health". Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  2. ↑ "Ministeriets historie". Sundheds- og Ældreministeriet.
  3. 1 2 3 "Ministeriets historie" (in Danish). Sundheds- og Ældreministeriet. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "Kongelig resolution af 28. juni 2015" (PDF) (in Danish). Statsministeriet. 28 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "Here is Denmark's new coalition government". The Local. Denmark. 28 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Regeringen Madsen-Mygdal". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  7. ↑ "Johannes Kjærbøl (S)". Folketinget (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  8. ↑ "Regeringen Poul Schlüter II". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  9. 1 2 "Regeringen Poul Schlüter III". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  10. ↑ "Regeringen Poul Schlüter IV". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  11. ↑ "Regeringen Poul Nyrup Rasmussen I". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  12. ↑ "Regeringen Poul Nyrup Rasmussen II". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  13. ↑ "Regeringen Poul Nyrup Rasmussen III". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  14. 1 2 3 "Regeringen Poul Nyrup Rasmussen IV". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  15. ↑ "Regeringen Anders Fogh Rasmussen I". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  16. ↑ "Regeringen Anders Fogh Rasmussen II". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  17. ↑ "Regeringen Anders Fogh Rasmussen III". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  18. 1 2 "Regeringen Lars Løkke Rasmussen I". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  19. ↑ "Regeringen Helle Thorning-Schmidt I". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  20. ↑ "Regeringen Helle Thorning-Schmidt II". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  21. ↑ "Regeringen Lars Løkke Rasmussen II". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  22. ↑ "Regeringen Lars Løkke Rasmussen III". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  23. ↑ "Regeringen Mette Frederiksen I". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  24. ↑ "Regeringen Mette Frederiksen II". Statsministeriet (in Danish). Retrieved 19 October 2025.
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