The Ministry of Health (Māori: Manatū Hauora) is the public service department of New Zealand responsible for healthcare in New Zealand. It came into existence in its current form in 1993. The organisation was founded in 1901 as the Department of Public Health in 1901, and was renamed to Department of Health in 1922.

The Ministry of Health's origins can be traced back to the Department of Public Health, which was first established in 1901 at the advice of the Central Board of Health. The Department of Public Health assumed responsibility for the provision of Māori health services between 1906 and 1909, when Māori medical health services were returned to the-then Department of Native Affairs. In 1910, the Public Health Department resumed responsibility for the control of Māori health. In 1911, a Māori Nursing Service was established as part of the Department of Public Health.

Under the Health Act 1920, major organisational changes were mandated. Seven separate divisions were created within the department, each headed by its own director. The department was renamed the Department of Health in 1922, dropping the word public. The structure remained relatively static even when the Social Security Act 1938 was passed where the New Zealand government took a larger role in health purchasing. The department remained actively involved in policy (as opposed to purchasing).

In 1947 the department assumed responsibility for the administration and operation of psychiatric hospitals after the Mental Hospitals Department was abolished and became the division of mental hygiene at the department.

By the 1970s problems had appeared in the health system. The high growth rate in hospital expenditure was occurring at a time when the economy was slowing down. Thus, the government was unable to sustain funding this growth. This led the health system to undergo a series of changes over a 20-year period from the 1980s.

During the 1990s the Fourth National Government attempted to stream-line the system in a series of reforms such as separating the government purchasing and provision of health care services. Four regional health authorities (RHAs) were created to oversee the purchasing of health services while general practitioners, specialists, and hospitals were tasked with delivering health services. Public services were also turned into quasi-commercial Crown health enterprises (CHEs). In 1993, the Department was renamed as the Ministry of Health.

The Labour–Alliance coalition government redefined the role of the Ministry of Health as part of Labour's election promises in the 1999 election.

In December 1999, the separate government health service purchasing entity, the Health Funding Authority, was merged with the Ministry of Health. Critics were anxious as to how the Ministry would perform as a funder, as they commented that the Ministry had in the past only performed as a policy organisation. However, supporters of this move stated that they believed this would make these agencies more accountable.^{[citation needed]}