Prime Minister Taro Aso has instructed Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano to formulate a plan to split up the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry so it can perform its wide-ranging duties more quickly and efficiently.
"I want the minister in charge of economy and fiscal policy to put forward recommendations on how to classify the duties of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and to split up its organization," Aso told a meeting of the Council on Economy and Fiscal Policy, a key policy-formulating panel he heads, on Tuesday.
The health ministry's responsibilities range from medical services, pensions and nursing services to elderly care and employment policies.
Aso is expected to make ministry reorganization a key pledge of the ruling coalition in the Lower House election, government officials said.