If it is a closely guarded secret then how is it that many people in Yangon are talking about it?

Jamie

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Health dept to be split under reform plan
Shwe Yee Saw Myint
Myanmar Times
Monday, 20 October 2014

Health officials say a major organisational shakeup is looming within the Ministry of Health, with the key Department of Health likely to be split into two separate departments.
Some sources said the restructure is driven by an attempt to sideline those close to the current minister’s predecessor, Dr Pe Thet Khin, including director general Dr Min Than Nyunt.
However, Dr Than Sein, the head of the Public Health Foundation who is advising the government on the restructure, insisted last week that this was not the case.
He said the plan, which is being led by Vice President Dr Sai Mauk Kham, was being developed before Dr Pe Thet Khin was replaced by Dr Than Aung in late July.
The most important change will see the Department of Health, which accounts for about 80 percent of the ministry’s budget, split into separate public health and medical care departments, both of which will be headed by a director general.
“I know that the Minister for Health’s Office is planning to reorganise the Department [of Health] but it is a closely guarded secret within the ministry. Senior officials are not giving information to outsiders,” one senior ministry official said last week on condition of anonymity.
Another change will be the introduction of district-level health offices to improve links between the existing township and region-level bodies.
Some work currently conducted at the regional and national level will be decentralised to the district level, Dr Than Sein said, adding that more young doctors would also be employed to work at township health facilities.
The ministry has already appointed 30 deputy directors to lead the district health offices, while some other deputy director positions will be filled by promoting township health officers, he said.
Dr Than Sein said the measures were aimed at improving service provision at the township level and strengthening capacity throughout the department in anticipation of more funding for the health sector from the national budget and international donors.
Another possible change will see the two medical research departments – one for lower Myanmar and one for upper Myanmar – combined into a single department, as was the case until 1992.
The Ministry of Health is divided into seven departments, each headed by a director general: the Department of Health, the Department of Health Planning, the Department of Medical Science, the Department of Medical Research (Lower Myanmar), the Department of Medical Research (Upper Myanmar), the Department of Traditional Medicine and the Department of Food and Drug Administration.
When The Myanmar Times sought confirmation from the Minister for Health’s Office last week about the proposed changes, a spokesperson said a restructure is being planned but the details are not yet confirmed and declined to comment further.
One country director for an international health NGO said the reorganisation is about personal competition rather than improving efficiency in the ministry, which has been widely criticised for its perceived failure to improve public healthcare despite significant budget increases since 2011.
“Every minister wants to appoint their best men to be the senior directors. When there’s a new minister, they try to clean out those appointed by their predecessor,” he said.
“We are not interested in their changes. We just want to have a well-intentioned person in charge and for those with the most skills to be given the most senior positions.”
He said the current Department of Health director general, Dr Min Than Nyunt, was a good performer but is out of favour with senior ministry and government officials because he was appointed by Dr Pe Thet Khin.
On July 29, the President’s Office announced that it had permitted Minister for Health Dr Pe Thet Khin to resign at his own request. It then nominated a deputy minister, Dr Than Aung, to the ministerial post, a move that was confirmed several days later by parliament.
The ousting of the former minister was widely interpreted as a strengthening of the President’s Office’s grip over the ministry. Dr Pe Thet Khin had held the position since President U Thein Sein formed government in March 2011.
Dr Than Aung, who is supported by deputy ministers Dr Thein Thein Htay and Dr Win Myint, comes from a military background and is reportedly close to former senior general U Than Shwe.

http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/in-depth/11997-health-dept-to-be-split-under-reform-plan.html