The mission and main responsibilities of the Ministry of Health, as defined by Decree No.  74-1064 of 28 November 1974 , are as follows:

Basic Mission:

To ensure the health of the population in order to allow the harmonious development of its physical and mental faculties and its adaptation to the natural environment and the social environment of the country by the fight against the causes of deterioration of physical well-being or which can affect it individually or collectively. 

In this capacity, he elaborates for the government the public health policy, plans it, ensures its implementation and controls its execution in the areas of prevention, care, medicine, narcotics and laboratories. rehabilitation.

Main attributions:

In the field of prevention:

• Initiate and stimulate all forms of collective or individual education likely to improve the behavior of the population in terms of hygiene
• Assist technically all public or private bodies whose action may have repercussions on the health of the population and particularly in the areas of habitat control, drinking water, food production, environmental protection the environment etc ...
• Implement, directly or through approved organizations, individual or collective prophylaxis, including mass vaccination, border health control, school hygiene, maternal and child health, hygiene work and the prevention of occupational diseases, nutritional education and hygiene and mental hygiene;
• Implement disease screening actions to prevent them from occurring or to predict them in time;
• Implement and ensure the implementation of a family planning policy in the context of the protection of the family, the physical and psychic development of children and the safeguarding of the mother's health.

In the field of curative actions:

• Promote an organization of ambulatory and hospital care, public or private, so as to bring as close as possible the medical and paramedical services of the citizen by establishing a health network covering the whole country
• Elaborate the regulatory texts governing the activity of these care organizations, whether public or private;
• Ensure the administrative and financial supervision of the institutions in all cases;
• promote as part of the support for curative action, the creation and organization of a network for the production and supply of products and materials for therapeutic and diagnostic use, such as drugs, prostheses, products of human origin (blood, plasma) or animal (serum, vaccines etc ...) and exploration and care materials;
• Ensure that the supply of the country in these different products is normally assured 

In the field of drugs, narcotics and laboratories:

• Decide on the establishment and closure of pharmacies, laboratories and drug depots and inspect them;
• Control the production and quality of medicines;
• Control the import, movement and price nomenclature of pharmaceutical, biological and related products;
• Control the consumption of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and poisonous substances;
• Screening for the use of doping

In the field of rehabilitation actions:

• Promote the creation and organization of public or private outpatient or hospital rehabilitation networks, particularly in the field of physiotherapy, occupational therapy and therapeutic workshops and in the field of hydrotherapy.

To fulfill this mission, the Ministry of Health:

• Develops or participates in the development of all laws and regulations concerning the listed activities.
• In case of emergency, takes all necessary measures for the health security of the national territory.
• Ensures the standardization, maintenance and harmonious development of health facilities in the public and private sectors of the country and assesses their effectiveness.
• Gathers basic statistical information on mortality, morbidity and their causes.
• Conducts or makes inquiries that highlight the relationship between the state of health of the population and the economic development of the country and the effectiveness of health actions undertaken.
• Coordinates the action of representative health institutions of public institutions, national or international public or private organizations concerning, in a permanent or occasional way, health action in the country;
• Assumes responsibility for the design and implementation of the training policy of the health professionals required for these activities, either directly or in conjunction with other interested departments or agencies;
• Encourages scientific research and the technical and professional promotion of these cadres and their ongoing training;
• In the event of a serious threat to the health of the population, it may require, or directly manage, a specific health activity to deal with an emergency or the failure of a specific institution or organization, in collaboration with interested departments and agencies;