Who we are

SBU (The Swedish Agency for Health and Social Assessment) is a government agency under the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. We provide independent, scientific reviews of methods and interventions in areas such as healthcare, social care, and social services.
The agency is led by one Director General and consist of five departments and eight units.

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Organisation and government

At SBU headquarters, around 100 people are engaged in organising project groups, compiling reports and disseminating the results of assessments. SBU has also an active network of experts in clinical and scientific fields, comprising several hundred people engaged in various projects throughout Sweden and abroad. These are leading experts in medicine, nursing, dentistry, health economics, ethics, epidemiology and social services.

Through participation in various SBU projects, these experts assemble the scientific evidence intended to inform safer, more effective healthcare.

SBU also collaborates with patient and user organisations within the healthcare and social services sector.

Britta Björkholm_9.jpg
Britta Björkholm, Director General

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Facts about Governmental agencies in Sweden

Every year the Government issues appropriation directions for the government agencies. These set out the objectives of the agencies' activities and how much money they have available to them. The Government therefore has quite substantial scope for directing the activities of government agencies, but it has no powers to interfere with how an agency applies the law or decides in a specific case. The government agencies take these decisions independently and report to the ministries. In many other countries, a minister has the power to intervene directly in an agency's day-to-day operations. This possibility does not exist in Sweden, as 'ministerial rule' is prohibited.

The Government is responsible for recruiting and appointing the heads (directors-general) of government agencies.

Source: https://www.regeringen.se/other-languages/english---how-sweden-is-governed/)

Organisation and government

Our organisation

Facts about Governmental agencies in Sweden