The health care system includes a variety of institutions responsible for health protection.
In Lithuania, the top government authority in the health sector is the Ministry of Health.
In the field of health care, the Ministry of Health develops State policy in such sub-fields as disease prevention, diagnostics, treatment, patient rehabilitation, and the organisation of health care.
The Ministry of Health supervises the work of various subordinate institutions, each of which fulfil certain obligations and are, therefore, also responsible for health protection:
- the National Health Insurance Fund which manages the compulsory health insurance funds
- the State Medicines Control Agency which ensures the safety of products used in health care
- the National Public Health Centre which acts in the areas of public health and market surveillance
- the State Health Care Accreditation Service which monitors medical institutions and the quality of health care services
- the Health Emergency Situations Centre which participates in the implementation of policy in the field of health emergency management
- the National Transplant Bureau which fosters universal accessibility of transplantation services and others
The Ministry of Health also represents the state (as the owner) in several public institutions that implement health care and protection, such as:
- the State Vilnius psychiatric hospital and others