The Department of Health (DOH) holds the over-all technical authority on health as it is a national health policy-maker and regulatory institution.

Basically, the DOH has three major roles in the health sector: (1) leadership in health; (2) enabler and capacity builder; and (3) administrator of specific services. Its mandate is to develop national plans, technical standards, and guidelines on health. Aside from being the regulator of all health services and products, the DOH is the provider of special tertiary health care services and technical assistance to health providers and stakeholders.