The Department of Health will be officially reformed as the ‘Ministry of Health and Welfare’ (MHW) on July 23, 2013. The plaque unveiling ceremony and the inauguration ceremony for its first Minister will be held at 11 am. It is the most substantial reform since it was founded in 1971, with the objective of responding to challenges from the change of population structure and new type of society, enhancing healthcare and welfare, providing citizens with all-directional care to cover physical, mental, and social aspects, and meeting the global trend of ‘Universal Coverage’ as proclaimed by WHO. 

The newly formed MHW has integrated existing agencies (including task forces) of the Department of Health (DOH) with five subordinate institutions, and several agencies from the Ministry of the Interior, including the Department of Social Affairs, Child Welfare Bureau, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Committee, National Pension Supervisory Committee, as well as the National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine from the Ministry of Education. They are restructured into 14 departments and six third-level subordinate units. Moreover, in addition to the existing 26 Department of Health’s hospitals, 13 existing social welfare agencies from the Ministry of the Interior will also join. 

The press conference for the MHW reformation plaque-unveiling ceremony and the inauguration of its first minister will be held at 10:30 am on July 23, 2013. The inauguration and oath-taking ceremony of the heads of its six subordinate agencies and 39 affiliated medical and social welfare agencies will also be held on the same day.