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The Ministry of Health (Dzongkha: གསོ་བ་ལྷན་ཁག, MoH) is the ministry of the Royal Government of Bhutan responsible for public health policy, hospital services, primary health care, traditional medicine (Sowa Rigpa), public-health surveillance, and the regulation of medicines, food, and medical products. It is headquartered in Thimphu.^[1]

Free basic health care is a constitutional commitment under Article 9 of the 2008 Constitution, which directs the state to provide free access to public health services. Bhutan's mixed system combines the modern allopathic stream — which arrived in the early twentieth century and expanded rapidly from the 1960s — with Sowa Rigpa, the traditional medical system rooted in Tibetan medicine, which the ministry continues to administer through dedicated traditional-medicine units co-located with district hospitals.^[2]

As of January 2024 the Minister of Health is Lyonpo Tandin Wangchuk, sworn in on 28 January 2024 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay. This is his second tenure in the post; he previously served as Health Minister from 2013 to 2018 in the first Tobgay government.^[3]^[4]

Three-Tier Referral System

The Bhutanese public-health network is organised as a three-tier system. The base layer is the network of Basic Health Units (BHUs), staffed primarily by health assistants, auxiliary nurse midwives, and community health workers, which provide outpatient care, maternal and child health services, immunisation, and basic emergency stabilisation in rural gewogs. The middle layer is the district hospitals, staffed by medical officers with MBBS qualifications, which provide inpatient services and surgical capacity at the dzongkhag level.

The apex of the system is formed by the regional referral hospitals — Mongar Eastern Regional Referral Hospital, Central Regional Referral Hospital in Gelephu, and most importantly the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital (JDWNRH) in Thimphu, where the majority of specialist consultants are based. Cases beyond JDWNRH's capacity are referred abroad, predominantly to tertiary-care hospitals in India under bilateral arrangements.^[5]

Allied Institutions

The ministry oversees or coordinates with several specialised institutions. The Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan (KGUMSB), founded in 2013 and renamed in 2015, is the country's only medical university and operates the Faculty of Postgraduate Medicine, the Faculty of Nursing and Public Health, and the Faculty of Traditional Medicine. The Bhutan Health Trust Fund (BHTF) is an autonomous endowment that finances essential medicines and vaccines, with the Health Minister serving as its Chair. The Bhutan Food and Drug Authority is the regulatory agency for food, medicines, and other health products.^[6]^[7]

Workforce and Migration Pressure

Like the education sector, the health workforce is under pressure from external migration. World Bank and Bhutanese ministerial figures cited in 2024–2025 indicated a shortfall of approximately 172 doctors and specialists and 824 nurses, driven primarily by departures to Australia. In 2024, almost 70 percent of all voluntary resignations from the civil service came from the education and health sectors combined.^[8]

COVID-19 Response and 13th FYP

During the COVID-19 pandemic the ministry coordinated a vaccination campaign that achieved one of the highest first-dose coverage rates in the world within a short window in 2021, supported by donations of vaccines including 150,000 doses provided by India under its Vaccine Maitri programme. The 13th Five-Year Plan (2024–2029) prioritises the epidemiological transition to non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer), mental-health services, and the strengthening of the national medical workforce through KGUMSB.

Ministry of Health (Bhutan)

Three-Tier Referral System

Allied Institutions

Workforce and Migration Pressure

COVID-19 Response and 13th FYP

See Also

References