Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment

Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM ) is a person responsible for Public Health and Environmental Protection Dutch authority. The RIVM is an independent agency of the Dutch Ministry of Health and is headquartered in Bilthoven. The RIVM has about 1500 employees. The Institute carries out its own research and collects scientific world. It advises the government on matters of public health, health care and nutrition. Also, for chemical and biological and environmental accidents, the Council of the RIVM is obtained. Among the customers in addition to Dutch ministries, including the European Union, the World Health Organization and the United Nations.

Tasks

The duties of the RIVM includes support for policy decisions. The RIVM takes over the national co-ordination, for example in the fight against infectious diseases. It organizes prevention and intervention campaigns, each relating to specific population groups. Here it comes, for example, vaccination of a certain age or campaigns that promote more movement or against smoking. The RIVM publishes information brochures that appeal to professionals or ordinary citizens. National and international organizations can commission research to the RIVM. The RIVM support authorities in the control of policies. For chemical and biological accidents, the RIVM has laboratories and expertise that are needed for skilled action.