Ley 1164 de 2007: health workforce
- Law
Law 1164 of 2007 sets the requirements to work in health, the Rethus register, the compulsory social service and ethics principles for all staff.
What it is
Law 1164 of 2007 (3 October) regulates the planning, training, oversight and control of the health workforce. It states what is needed to practise a health profession or occupation, creates the national register of the health workforce (Rethus), defines the professional act as an obligation of means, creates the Compulsory Social Service and, in Chapter VI, sets ethical principles, values, rights and duties for all health staff, not only doctors.
Key articles
- Art. 18: practice requires a degree or certificate from a recognised institution (or its validation); it allows temporary permits for foreign staff on missions and in health emergencies.
- Art. 22: no one may carry out health-care activities without meeting the requirements of the law.
- Art. 23 (amended by Decree-Law 2106 of 2019, art. 100): staff must register in Rethus, which also records the sanctions that ethics tribunals report.
- Art. 26 (amended by Law 1438 of 2011, art. 104): the professional act rests on autonomy and the relationship with the patient, and creates an obligation of means based on professional competence.
- Art. 33: Compulsory Social Service of six months to one year, in hard-to-reach populations, as a prerequisite for registration.
- Art. 35: ethical and bioethical principles: truthfulness, equality, autonomy, beneficence, lesser evil, nonmaleficence, totality and double effect.
- Art. 36: values: humanity, dignity, responsibility, prudence and secrecy.
- Art. 37: rights of staff, among them conscientious objection; art. 38: duties, among them restraint towards products and techniques with doubtful effects.
What it covers
- Chapter I: purpose and general principles (equity, solidarity, quality, ethics, comprehensiveness, consensus, unity, effectiveness).
- Chapters II to IV: the National Health Workforce Council, professional associations, training, requirements to practise and Rethus.
- Chapter V: performance, the professional act, the compulsory social service.
- Chapter VI (arts. 34 to 38): ethical and bioethical provision of services.
In clinical practice
- To hire staff or assign shifts, institutions check registration in Rethus, which replaced the physical professional card (art. 24, amended by Decree-Law 2106 of 2019).
- Art. 26 is the legal basis for the rule that a doctor promises to use adequate means, not to guarantee a cure.
- The other health professions follow their own ethics codes and tribunals; Law 1164 sets common principles for them (arts. 26, 34 and 38).
Status and official text
- Official text checked on 2026-11-05 on minsalud.gov.co (Law 1164 of 2007) and in Decree 780 of 2016, which regulates Rethus.
- Amendments: arts. 13 and 26 by Law 1438 of 2011 (arts. 99 and 104); arts. 23 and 24 by Decree-Law 2106 of 2019 (arts. 100 and 101); art. 16A added by Law 2294 of 2023 (art. 168).
- Recertification of the health workforce (art. 25) was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in Ruling C-756 of 2008, which also struck number 2 and paragraph 1 of art. 18.
- Decree 780 of 2016 requires the rulings of the ethics and disciplinary tribunals of the health professions to be sent to Rethus.
Test yourself
Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.
What kind of obligation does the professional act create under art. 26 of Law 1164 of 2007?
An obligation of means, based on professional competence: the professional promises to use adequate means, not to secure a result.
What is Rethus and what does it contain?
The national register of the health workforce; it holds personal and academic data, the compulsory social service and the sanctions reported by ethics tribunals.
How long is the Compulsory Social Service under Law 1164?
No less than six months and no more than one year (art. 33), and it is a prerequisite for registration.
Which article of Law 1164 on recertification was declared unconstitutional?
Art. 25, by Ruling C-756 of 2008 of the Constitutional Court.
Connections
Educational content on ethics and health law; not legal advice. Laws and case law change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, read the text in force and ask a lawyer or the medical ethics tribunal.
Sources: Ley 1164 de 2007, por la cual se dictan disposiciones en materia del Talento Humano en Salud (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, 2007); Decreto 780 de 2016, Book 2, Part 7, Title 2: health workforce and Rethus (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, 2016).
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Representative model, for educational purposes only.