The Minister for Public Health and Women's Health is a

junior minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry (government department), ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is desi ...

ial post in the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

. The minister is not a member of the Scottish Cabinet, and reports to the

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Fil ...

. The current minister is

Jenni Minto Jennifer Margot Minto (born 1968) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Argyll and Bute since 2021. She has been serving as Minister for Public Health and Women's Health since ...

, who was appointed by First Minister

Humza Yousaf Humza Haroon Yousaf (; born 7 April 1985) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from March 2023 to May 2024. He served under his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon as Scottish ...

on 29 March 2023.

Overview

The office in its current form has specific responsibility for: *

Public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

Women's health Women's health is an example of population health, where health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". Often treated ...

Palliative care Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...

Abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

Child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

and

maternal health Maternal health is the health of people during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. In most cases, maternal health encompasses the health care dimensions of family planning, Pre-conception counseling, preconception, Prenatal care, pr ...

Sexual health Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Sexual and reproductive healt ...

Medical record The terms medical record, health record and medical chart are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the systematic documentation of a single patient's medical history and health care, care across time within one particular health care provide ...

s *

Population health Population health has been defined as "the health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group". It is an approach to health that aims to improve the health of an entire human population. It ha ...

* Healthy weight *

Sensory impairment Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

Food Standards Scotland Food Standards Scotland () is a non-ministerial government department of the Scottish Government. It is responsible for food safety, food standards, nutrition, food labelling and meat inspection in Scotland. Established by the Food (Scotland) ...

Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

Ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

Audiology Audiology (from Latin 'to hear'; and from Ancient Greek, Greek branch of learning , ''wikt:-logia, -logia'') is a branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Audiologists treat those with hearing loss and proactivel ...

* Pharmacy First * MyNHS Digital * Mobile healthcare * National Pharmaceutical Agency * Vaccination programmes *

Dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...

History

From 1999 to 2007, public health was the responsibility of the

Minister for Health and Community Care The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Open Government Licence v3.0 © Crown copyright.() commonly referred to as the Health Secretary (), is a cabinet position in the Scot ...

and the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care. The Salmond government, elected following the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative elect ...

, created the junior post of Minister for Public Health who assisted the

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Open Government Licence v3.0 © Crown copyright.() commonly referred to as the Health Secretary (), is a cabinet position in the Scot ...

in the Scottish Government. In 2009, the post became the Minister for Public Health and Sport after assuming the Sport portfolio. From 2011, the post reverted to the title of Minister for Public Health and sport was once again separated off to a new Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport post. Following the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth Next Scottish Parliament election, election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It ...

, Nicola Sturgeon recreated the old Minister for Public Health and Sport post. The Minister does not attend the

Scottish Cabinet The Scottish Cabinet is the main decision-making body of the Scottish Government, the devolved government of Scotland. It is headed by the first minister, and made up of the deputy first minister, cabinet secretaries of the Scottish Government ...

.Scotland Act (1998)
''Only those appointed under Section 47 of the Scotland Act "attend" Cabinet. Junior ministers are appointed under Section 49 and may be "present".''

List of office holders

References

External links

Minister for Public Health and Sport
on Scottish Government website {{authority control

Public Health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

Health in Scotland 2007 establishments in Scotland Public health in the United Kingdom Health ministers of Scotland

Overview

History

List of office holders

See also

References

External links