The Ministry of Health of Chile (), also known as MINSAL, is the cabinet-level administrative office in charge of planning, directing, coordinating, executing, controlling and informing the public health policies formulated by the President of Chile. Notably, all employees pay 7% of their monthly income to FONASA, the funding branch of the Chilean Ministry of Health.
The current Minister of Health is May Chomali. The minister has two adjuncts: the Undersecretary of Public Health () and the Undersecretary of Assistance Networks ().
History
In 1808, the Committee of Vaccines () was founded, and then in 1832 the Board of Directors of Hospitals () began operations. Both organizations were precursors of what would become the modern institutions of public health. In 1907, a division charged with the administration of public hygiene was created under the Ministry of the Interior (). Then on 14 October 1924, this division was made into the cabinet-level Ministry of Hygiene, Social Assistance and Welfare (), with the same function (Decree No. 44, 1924). In 1927 all the ministries underwent an important restructuring; with these change it became the Ministry of Social Welfare (), and was charged with, as well as the coordination of public health policies, the investigation of the application of laws relating to society, public welfare, and social security.
In 1932, it was once again renamed, becoming the Ministry of Public Health (), then the Ministry of Public Health, Social Assistance and Welfare () in 1936, and later the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare () in 1953.
In 1959, the ministry was divided into the Ministry of Public Health (), the modern form of the ministry, and, assuming the functions regulating the welfare of Chileans, the Ministry of Work and Social Welfare ().
Finally, from 1973 to 1979, the internal structure of the ministry, now simply the Ministry of Health, was reorganized, creating services such as the National Health Fund (), or FONASA.
Organization Currently under the Ministry are the following public institutions: Fondo Nacional de Salud (, FONASA) Public Health Institute of Chile (, ISP) Center for Supply (, CENABAST) The Health Services in each region of the country are charges with the coordination, management, and development of the assistance networks and execution of the ministry's action.
Titulars
Ministers of Hygiene, Social Assistance and Welfare Picture Name Entered office Exited office Notes Appointed by Alejandro del Río 17 October 1924 23 January 1925 September Junta José Santos Salas 29 January 1925 10 October 1925 Appointed by January Junta Reappointed by Luis Barros Borgoño Pedro Lautaro Ferrer 10 October 1925 23 December 1925 Lucio Córdova 23 December 1925 20 November 1926 Emiliano Figueroa Manuel Rivas Vicuña 20 November 1926 22 February 1927 Minister of the Interior Isaac Hevia 22 February 1927 23 May 1927 José Santos Salas 23 May 1927 17 November 1927 Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
Ministers of Social Welfare Picture Name Entered office Exited office Notes Appointed by Enrique Balmaceda Toro 17 November 1927 20 April 1928 Interim Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Alejandro Lazo 20 April 1928 6 June 1928 Luis Schmidt 6 June 1928 21 June 1928 Interim Luis Carvajal Laurnaga 21 June 1928 5 August 1930 Humberto Arce 5 August 1930 5 September 1930 Ricardo Puelma Laval 5 September 1930 13 July 1931 Juan Esteban Montero 13 July 1931 22 July 1931 Minister of the Interior and Social Welfare Héctor Boccardo 22 July 1931 22 July 1931 Sótero del Río 26 July 1931 3 September 1931 Appointed by Pedro Opazo Reappointed by Juan Esteban Montero Santiago Wilson 3 September 1931 15 November 1931 Manuel Trucco Sótero del Río 15 November 1931 4 June 1932 Juan Esteban Montero
Ministers of Public Health (First Creation) Picture Name Entered office Exited office Notes Appointed by Oscar Cifuentes Solar 5 June 1932 17 June 1932 Appointed by Socialist Junta Reappointed by Carlos Dávila Alfonso Quijano Olivares 17 June 1932 4 October 1932 Javier Castro Oliveira 4 October 1932 24 December 1932 Abraham Oyanedel Horacio Hevia Labbé 24 December 1932 7 May 1933 Minister of the Interior and Public Health Arturo Alessandri Alfredo Piwonka Jilabert 7 May 1933 19 April 1934 Minister of the Interior and Public Health Luis Salas Romo 19 April 1934 26 August 1935 Minister of the Interior and Public Health Javier Castro Oliveira 26 August 1935 15 January 1937
Ministers of Public Health, Social Assistance and Welfare Picture Name Entered office Exited office Notes Appointed by Eduardo Cruz-Coke Lassabe 15 January 1937 15 September 1938 Arturo Alessandri Luis Prúnes Rissetti 15 September 1938 24 December 1938 Miguel Etchebarne Rioll 24 December 1938 25 December 1939 Pedro Aguirre Cerda Salvador Allende Gossens 25 December 1939 2 April 1942 Eduardo Escudero Forrastal 2 April 1942 15 August 1942 Juan Antonio Rios Miguel Etchebarne Rioll 15 August 1942 4 February 1943 Jerónimo Méndez Arancibia 4 February 1943 7 June 1943 Sótero del Río 7 June 1943 3 February 1946 Juan Garafulic Dubracic 3 February 1946 6 September 1946 René García Valenzuela 6 September 1946 3 November 1946 Fernando Claro Salas 3 November 1946 16 April 1947 Gabriel González Videla Manuel Sanhueza Morales 16 April 1947 2 August 1947 José Santos Salas 2 August 1947 7 July 1948 Guillermo Varas Contreras 7 July 1948 7 February 1950 Manuel Aguirre Geisse 7 February 1950 27 February 1950 Jorge Mardones Restat 27 February 1950 22 July 1952 Sótero del Río 22 July 1952 3 November 1952 Waldemar Coutts 3 November 1952 1 April 1953 Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
Ministers of Public Health and Social Welfare Picture Name Entered office Exited office Notes Appointed by Eugenio Suárez Orrego 1 April 1953 1 March 1954 Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Carlos Vasallo 1 March 1954 5 June 1954 Sergio Altamirano Pinto 5 June 1954 6 January 1955 Jorge Aravena Carrasco 6 January 1955 30 May 1955 Raúl Barrios Ortiz 30 May 1955 4 July 1956 Alberto Araya Lampe 4 July 1956 27 August 1956 Roberto Muñoz Urrutia 27 August 1956 18 July 1957 Jorge Torreblanca Droguett 18 July 1957 3 November 1958 Eduardo Gomien 3 November 1958 29 October 1959 Jorge Alessandri
Ministers of Public Health (Second Creation) Picture Name Entered office Exited office Notes Appointed by Sótero del Río 29 October 1959 26 August 1961 Jorge Alessandri Benjamín Cid Quiroz 26 August 1961 26 September 1963 Francisco Rojas Villegas 26 September 1963 3 November 1964 Ramón Valdivieso Delaunay 3 November 1964 3 November 1970 Eduardo Frei Montalva Oscar Jiménez Pinochet 3 November 1970 14 August 1971 Salvador Allende Juan Carlos Concha 14 August 1971 3 November 1972 Arturo Jirón Vargas 3 November 1972 28 August 1973 Mario Lagos Hernández 28 August 1973 11 September 1973 Alberto Spoerer 12 September 1973 11 November 1974 Augusto Pinochet Francisco Herrera 12 November 1974 7 March 1976 Fernando Matthei 8 March 1976 23 July 1978 Carlos Jiménez Vargas 24 July 1978 13 December 1979 Alejandro Medina Lois 14 December 1979 28 December 1980 Hernán Rivera Calderón 29 December 1980 9 August 1983 Winston Chinchón 10 August 1983 12 August 1986 Juan Giaconi Gandolfo 13 August 1986 10 March 1990 Jorge Jiménez 11 March 1990 29 August 1992 Patricio Aylwin Julio Montt 30 August 1992 10 April 1994 Carlos Massad 11 April 1994 6 August 1996 Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle Álex Figueroa 7 August 1996 10 March 2000 Michelle Bachelet 11 March 2000 6 February 2002 Ricardo Lagos Osvaldo Artaza 7 February 2002 2 March 2003 Pedro García Aspillaga 3 March 2003 10 March 2006 María Soledad Barría 11 March 2006 27 October 2008 Michelle Bachelet Álvaro Erazo 28 October 2008 10 March 2010 Jaime Mañalich 11 March 2010 10 March 2014 Sebastián Piñera Helia Molina 11 March 2014 22 January 2015 Michelle Bachelet Carmen Castillo Taucher 23 January 2015 11 March 2018 Emilio Santelices 11 March 2018 12 June 2019 Sebastián Piñera Jaime Mañalich 13 June 2019 13 June 2020 Enrique Paris 13 June 2020 11 March 2022 María Begoña Yarza 11 March 2022 6 September 2022 Gabriel Boric Ximena Aguilera 6 September 2022 11 March 2026 May Chomali 11 March 2026 Incumbent José Antonio Kast
References
Sources
External links MINSAL official website Official history Public Health policies and Ministers Some biographies of famous Chilean doctors Biographies of famous Chilean doctors and Freemasons