The health and the public are closely related: the public development depends on its health, and the health depends on public development. That‘s why the main goal for ages is – to avoid the illness and to safe humans health. Till the year 1700 an ill person was isolated from public, in order to avoid the communicable diseases. Only in 1840 it was started to care about the sanitation of environment and from 1910 – about the personal hygiene.

The Lithuanian Sanitary institution’s functioning begins from the second part of XIX century, when the Executable Sanitary Commissions were established in Vilnius and Kaunas. Vilnius and Kaunas governments began to care about the medical and sanitation issues only from 1876 when Town Regulation law came into force. In an interwar time general sanitation, school’s sanitation, pupil’s health preserve, diseases prevention, sanitarian education was underway of some state institutions. The input of the municipalities in the sanitation field was the biggest. The National Sanitary Inspection under the territory government was acting till 1945. These institutions became independent Sanitary-Epidemiological Stations and in 1991 were reorganized into Hygiene Centres. The last change was made in 1995 – Sanitary-Epidemiological Stations were named as Public Health Centres. Some of the Public Health Centres inspection functions were divorced to the other institutions, such as State Non Food Products Inspectorate and State Food and Veterinary Service in 2000

Ministry of Health established the State Public Health Service under the Ministry of Health (SPHS)on 15th of May, 2000, in order to:

-     to strengthen public health;

-     to prevent the dangers for humans health;

-     to inform public about the possibilities to safe and strengthen health.

 

The objectives of the SPHSwere changed in 2006 when specialized public health institutions became accountable to the Ministry of Health.

The Public Health Centres in the counties and the National Public Health Research Centre are under supervision of the SPHS now.

 

Vision – developed public health care system ensures public health safety and effectively protects the consumer rights. The healthy and safe community uses the services, coincidentto the public health safety requirements.

Mission – to develop the public health care system which would ensure the safety of public health and would protect the consumer rights in a way of public health safety and the quality of services.

The main goal of SPHS – to ensure the public health safety and to protect consumer rights in a way of public health safety and the quality of services by implementing health policy.

The main objectives of the SPHS:
  -   To ensure the effective public administration services.
  -   To implement national public health safety control.
  -   To protect consumer rights in a way of services quality.
  -   To ensure the safety of the environment according the law requirements.
  -   To prevent and control communicable diseases.
  -   To strengthen public health.
  -   To control the licensed public health care services.

The main functions of the SPHS:
  -   To coordinate and to control subordinated institutions.
  -   To organize and to implement national public health safety control.
  -   To participate at the control of the health emergency situations.
  -   To prevent and control communicable diseases (from the 1st of January, 2008).
  -   To protect consumer rights.
  -   To ensure safe environment for public health.