Sundhedsstyrelsen (Denmark)
Sundhedsstyrelsen is the Danish health authority, a government agency under the Ministry of Health that was established in 1909. It develops national guidelines and determines in its specialist care plan which hospitals may provide specialised care.
The main article on this subject is Gender care in Denmark.
What you can find
The website contains guidelines, reports and information. For gender care, the relevant document is the 2018 guideline on care for people with questions about gender identity. The assessment and treatment of children and young people in Denmark are concentrated at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen.
Why it is included on this list
In recent years, Denmark has become more cautious about medical treatment for minors. According to a 2023 article in the Danish medical journal Ugeskrift for Læger, most referred young people receive counselling and conversations rather than puberty blockers or hormones. This shift is primarily a change in clinical practice; no formal decision by Sundhedsstyrelsen from 2023 has been found. See policy by country.
Place in the Danish healthcare system
Sundhedsstyrelsen is based in Copenhagen, in the Islands Brygge district. Its responsibilities include safeguarding patient safety, coordinating and monitoring health promotion and disease prevention, and advising the government. In August 2015, the then Minister of Health, Sophie Løhde, announced a reorganisation. Since then, four separate agencies have operated under the ministry: Sundhedsstyrelsen itself, the patient safety authority, the health data authority and the Danish Medicines Agency. Anyone looking for a Danish document on gender care should therefore pay attention to which of these agencies is listed as the sender.
New professional framework under development
Documents submitted to the Danish parliament show that on 18 December 2024, Sundhedsstyrelsen circulated a draft of a new professional framework for care for gender incongruence. The framework is intended to replace the 2018 guideline. The draft was prepared with input from professional associations, healthcare providers and user organisations. Psychosocial support is the first step under the framework. Medical treatment is considered only in cases of persistent and prolonged incongruence. For treatment with sex hormones, the draft specifies an age of fifteen, unless a different assessment is made for an individual young person. Whether and when the framework was formally adopted has not been verified for this entry; consult the Sundhedsstyrelsen website for that information.
How to use this source
Sundhedsstyrelsen's documents are in Danish and are the primary source for Danish policy. Reports in foreign media about a change in Denmark's approach often concern clinical practice rather than a decision by this authority. Therefore, always check whether a claim is based on a guideline, a draft or an article by doctors. For comparison with the other Scandinavian countries, this list includes entries on Socialstyrelsen in Sweden, Palko in Finland and Ukom in Norway. A recent comparison can be found in the article on differences in transgender care between the Nordic countries.