Departments

The Public Health Department

Ministry of Health and Care Services

The main tasks of the Public Health Department are protecting and improving the health of people and their communities. This includes health promotion, health protection, and disease prevention through population-based health analyses and societal interventions.

Areas of Responsibility

The department is divided into the following sections: Section for Societal Health Interventions and Analyses, Section for Public Health Law, Section for the Lifestyle Determinants of Health, and Section for Health Security and Food Safety.

The department's tasks include areas such as mental health, environmental health protection, infection control including vaccines and antimicrobial resistance, nutrition, food safety and drinking water, alcohol, drugs, and tobacco prevention, initiatives to increase physical activity, injury prevention, and facilitation of age-friendly communities. Radiation protection and nuclear safety also fall within the department's area of responsibility. In many of these areas, Nordic, European, and broader international cooperation is important.

The department is responsible for several areas of public health related law, including the Alcohol Act, the Atomic Energy Act, the Public Health Act, the Cosmetics Act, the Food Act, the Radiation Protection Act, the Tobacco Control Act, and the Wine Monopoly Act.

The department consists of the following sections:

The department consists of the following sections

  • Section for Societal Health Interventions and Analyses

    This section is responsible for health monitoring and analyses, including population surveys and socioeconomic assessments of public health initiatives, national coordination of public health policy at the municipal public health level, injury and accident prevention, first aid, mental health from a public health and well-being perspective, age-friendly Norway, as well as various coordination tasks within the department.

  • Section for Public Health Law

    This section is responsible for the department's legal work pertaining to public health laws and has particular responsibility for the following: the Alcohol Act, the Nuclear Energy Activities Act, the Public Health Act, the Food Act, the Cosmetics Act, the Radiation Protection Act, the Tobacco Control Act, and the Wine Monopoly Act.

  • Section for the Lifestyle Determinants of Health

    This section is responsible for health-promotion and preventive measures within the areas of alcohol, drugs, doping, tobacco, physical activity, diet, nutrition, dental health, and non-communicable diseases in general.

  • Section for Health Security and Food Safety

    This section is responsible for infection control, including antimicrobial resistance, pandemic preparedness planning at national level and vaccination; radiation protection, nuclear safety, environmental health protection, food safety, and drinking water.