The Health and Family Welfare Department of Assam under the Minister for Health and Family Welfare is responsible for maintaining and developing the health care system in the state and guiding and supervising the Health and Family Welfare Programme of the state. The services offered by the department are Preventive Health Care Services, Promote Health Care Services, Routine Curative Services, and Rehabilitation Services etc. The activities of the department include establishment and maintenance of medical institutions with necessary infrastructure, implementation of National Disease Control and Eradication Programmes, Control of communicable as well as non communicable diseases apart from various other functions.

The Health and Family Welfare Department normally confines itself to general policies, direction, legislation, assembly business, inter-departmental matters and review assessment of execution of policies and schemes which are normally left to the Head of the Department.

The Department of Health and Family Welfare is mainly responsible for issue of statutory rules, notifications or order pertaining to health care of all citizens and convey financial sanction order pertaining to schemes under health and family welfare programmes.