The Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs and Health of Land Schleswig-Holstein

The Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs and Health of Land Schleswig-Holstein undertakes, on behalf of its citizens, socio-political tasks, tasks that are politically characterised not only by aspects of social welfare and health, but also from the technical point of view: social security and social systems, policies for disabled persons, health care, policies for children, youth and senior citizens and the creation of honorary offices and civil societies determine the thematically broad political responsibility of the "Ministry of Social Affairs". Work and radiation protection, are tasks which are especially relevant to safety.

Minister, Dr. Heiner Garg, and Secretary of State, Dr. Bettina Bonde, are in charge of the Ministry. 330 female and male employees work in six departments as administrative qualified employees, and there are experts particularly in the medical, social science and legal fields, as well as male and female engineers. The tasks undertaken by the Ministry influence almost all areas of peoples' lives in Schleswig-Holstein: some aspects of medical and home care, health promotion and prevention, consumer protection, the protection of children and young people, support for families with disabled family members, financial precautions and life conditions at an advanced age, social insurance and support for people in need are further examples for the broad spectrum of activities.

With regard to the social policy sector, national legislation extensively determines social policy through the German Central Government. The consequence is that the Ministry is assigned the task of presentation and structuring, in order to promote the implementation of laws and to support, that is to supervise persons taking an active role in the process (particularly local authorities, social insurance agencies and associations).

Overview of duties

• Children, youth and family policy
• Social and disabled policy
• Health policy
• Senior citizens policy
• Social systems and work protection.

How to contact the Ministry of Social Affairs:

Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs and Health of Land Schleswig-Holstein
Adolf-Westphal-Straße 4
D - 24143 Kiel

Address: Postfach 1121, 24100 Kiel

Phone no.: +49 (0) 431 988-5366, +49 (0) 431 988-5415
Fax: +49 (0) 431 988-5344

E-mail: pressestelle@sozmi.landsh.de