Ministry of Health (Spain)

Ministry of Health
Ministerio de Sanidad

Headquarters of the Ministry of Health
Agency overview
Formed4 November 1936; 88 years ago (1936-11-04)
Preceding agency
  • Ministry of Labour, Health and Welfare
TypeMinistry
JurisdictionGovernment of Spain
HeadquartersCasa Sindical Building
Madrid, Spain
Annual budget€ 2.7 billion, 2023[1]
Minister responsible
Agency executives
  • Javier Padilla Bernáldez, Secretary of State
  • Juan Fernando Muñoz Montalvo, Secretary-General for Digital Health
  • Ana María Sánchez Hernández, Under-Secretary
WebsiteMinistry of Health (in Spanish)

The Ministry of Health (MISAN) is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for proposing and executing the government policy on health, planning and providing healthcare as well as the exercise of the powers of the General State Administration to assure citizens the right to health protection.[2] The Ministry is headquartered in the Paseo del Prado in Madrid, opposite the Prado Museum.

Healthcare in Spain is provided by the National Health System, a decentralized organization composed by the regional health systems and the National Institute of Health Management, the health agency of the central government that provides health care to the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. According to Eurostat (2017 data), Spain spends 8.9% of GDP on health, approximately $104 billion (€86 billion).[3]

According to the Annual Report of the National Health System 2019, the total expenditure of the Spanish health system in 2018 was 109.9 billion euros (77.4 billion corresponding to the public sector and 32.5 billion to the private sector). This represents 2,351 euros per capita and an expenditure of 9.1% of the Spanish GDP.[4] As of 2018, regarding human resources, the NHS had 780,377 professionals. Of these, 188,166 are medical professionals, 274,633 nursing professionals, and 317,578 are other types of health professionals.[5]

The Ministry is headed by the Minister of Health, who is appointed by the King of Spain at request of the Prime Minister. The Minister is assisted by three main officials, the Secretary of State for Health, the Secretary-General for Digital Health, Information and Innovation of the National Health System and the Under Secretary of Health. The current Health Minister is Mónica García.

  1. ^ "2023 State Budget" (PDF). www.boe.es. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Royal Decree 718/2024, of July 23, which develops the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Health". www.boe.es. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  3. ^ "File:Current healthcare expenditure, 2017 SPS20.png - Statistics Explained". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Informe Anual del Sistema Nacional de Salud 2019" (PDF). p. 210.
  5. ^ "Informe Anual del Sistema Nacional de Salud 2019 - Recursos humanos" (PDF). p. 30.