History
RIVM was founded in 1910 when the Central Laboratory for Public Health was created. [3]
The present size of the institute is the result of a merger between three government institutes in 1984. [3]
RIVM has become a large, complex organisation with many different international links and a range of activities. [3]
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the RIVM was tasked with oversight of the disease and how the Dutch government would combat it. They RIVM instituted weekly counts of infected people within the nation's borders. The director of the Infectious Disease Control bureau, Jaap van Dissel, was charged with disease reduction efforts. [4]
By July 2021, the RIVM, which was a reference laboratory for the World Health Organization, recognized five types of COVID test technology: [5]
On 13 August 2021, government announced with RIVM approval that "From 30 August social distancing will no longer be required at secondary vocational schools (MBOs), higher professional education institutions (HBOs) and universities." [9]
Serology is the scientific study of serum and other body fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the diagnostic identification of antibodies in the serum. Such antibodies are typically formed in response to an infection, against other foreign proteins, or to one's own proteins. In either case, the procedure is simple.
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport is the Dutch Ministry responsible for public health, health care, quality of life, social work and sport. The Ministry was created in 1951 as the "Ministry of Social Affairs and Health" and had several name changes before it became the "Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport" in 1994. The Ministry is headed by the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, currently Conny Helder (VVD), assisted by one State secretary, currently Maarten van Ooijen (CU).
The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute is the Dutch national weather forecasting service, which has its headquarters in De Bilt, in the province of Utrecht, central Netherlands.
The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency is a Dutch research institute that advises the Dutch government on environmental policy and regional planning issues. Operating as an autonomous entity within the Dutch Government organization, specifically under the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. While primarily associated with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, PBL's expertise is also sought by other government departments, including the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The research fields include sustainable development, energy and climate change, biodiversity, transport, land use, and air quality. It is one of three applied policy research institutes of the Dutch government, the other two being Centraal Planbureau (CPB), and The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP). Since January 2023 Marko Hekkert is director of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
Med-Vet-Net is a European Network of Excellence for zoonosis research. The Network officially commenced on 1 September 2004 until 31 October 2009. It was funded for five years at a cost of €14.4 million by the European Union (EU) 6th Framework Programme, within the ‘Quality and Safety of Food’ Priority Area. In October 2009 the network continued to start the Med-Vet-Net Association for Zoonoses Research.
The Artois-Baillet Latour Foundation is a Belgian non-profit organization which was founded on 1 March 1974.
The Health Council of the Netherlands or the Dutch Health Council is an independent Dutch scientific advisory body with the task of advising the government and parliament about matters in the areas of public health and medical research.
Hans Herman Cohen was a Dutch microbiologist. He was director-general of the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) between 1984 and 1986. As a microbiologist Cohen worked on development of polio vaccines in the Netherlands.
Sciensano is a research institute and the national public health institute of Belgium. It is a so-called federal scientific institution that operates under the authority of the federal minister of Public Health and the federal minister of Agriculture of Belgium. Sciensano's core business is scientific research in the fields of public health, animal health and food safety. Sciensano arose in 2018 from the merger of the former Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre and the former Scientific Institute of Public Health. Both institutions were merged because of their complementary activities and to be able to provide a comprehensive answer to the health challenges of the future. More particularly, the merger was based on the One Health principle that states that the areas of human health, animal health and the environment are inherently connected with each other. The merger became official on April 1, 2018.
COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2. The two main types of tests detect either the presence of the virus or antibodies produced in response to infection. Molecular tests for viral presence through its molecular components are used to diagnose individual cases and to allow public health authorities to trace and contain outbreaks. Antibody tests instead show whether someone once had the disease. They are less useful for diagnosing current infections because antibodies may not develop for weeks after infection. It is used to assess disease prevalence, which aids the estimation of the infection fatality rate.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands has resulted in 8,635,061 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 22,986 deaths.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Saba is part of the ongoing global viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed to have reached the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba on April 12, 2020. At the beginning of the pandemic, the island had a population of just over 1,900 people. As of 12 May, all cases were reported to have recovered. On 1 August, two new cases were imported which resolved on 9 September.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Bonaire was part of the ongoing global viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was confirmed to have reached the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire on 16 April 2020. On 28 April, all cases recovered. On 14 July, two new cases were discovered. On 13 August, all cases recovered.
Jaap Tamino van Dissel is a Dutch virologist and infectiologist.
Maria Petronella Gerarda Koopmans is a Dutch virologist who is Head of the Erasmus MC Department of Viroscience. Her research considers emerging infectious diseases, noroviruses and veterinary medicine. In 2018 she was awarded the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) Stevin Prize. She serves on the scientific advisory group of the World Health Organization.
In the European Netherlands, a Municipal Health Service is a decentralised public health organisation. Legally, the responsibility for the provision of this service lies with the municipalities. However, in practice, the municipalities work together to provide this service at a regional level, resulting in twenty-five "GGD regions". The borders of the GGD regions largely correspond to the borders of the safety regions.
Michael Joseph Mina is an American epidemiologist, immunologist and physician. He was formerly an assistant professor of Epidemiology & Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, assistant Professor of Pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and currently Chief Medical Officer at eMed.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands, various measures were taken by the government. On the advice of the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) set up by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), many successive decisions were taken in a short period of time. The first preventive measures came into effect on Monday, January 27, 2020.
Aura Timen is a Romanian medical doctor based in the Netherlands. She is head of the department of primary care and professor of primary and community care at Radboud University Nijmegen.
