National Health Authority

The National Health Authority (NHA; Arabic: سلطة الصحة الوطنية sulṭat aṣ-ṣaḥah al-waṭanīyah) is a Palestinian government authority directly subordinate to the Ministry of Health. It is responsible for operating the nation's single-payer universal healthcare system, from emergency/trauma centres and women's and children's hospitals to primary care youth clinics and drug & alcohol treatment centres.

The NHA was first established in 1955 under 2nd President of Palestine Rafiq el-Tamimi. It originally existed simply as a supervisory agency for the many businesses, mosques, churches and non-governmental agencies responsible for the hospitals and medical infrastructure in the country. In 1960, the vast majority of healthcare infrastructure in Palestine was nationalised, and the NHA was given the task of rolling out the new single-payer system, the financial aspects of which were handled by a separate Ministry of Health agency known as the Financial Bureau which exists to this day as an autonomous bureau directly subordinate to the Secretary of Health. In 1967, the NHA was placed under the jurisdiction of the reformed Ministry of Health and given a monopoly over the public healthcare system.

Dr. Munzer el-Ashhab has served as Chairman of the National Health Authority since September 2013.