For more than 100 years, RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment has been promoting public health and safeguarding a healthy and safe environment. We have a central role in infectious disease control, national prevention and population screening programmes and monitoring our population’s health and the state of our environment. We support citizens, professionals and national and local authorities in the challenge of keeping ourselves and our environment healthy, safe and sustainable. Our ambition is to be a trusted advisor using independent research as the basis for our advisory work. Below we present some of the global challenges we work on and elaborate on our tasks and international activities.
Highlighted themes
Climate change and Health
Safe, healthy and sustainable food
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
Population Screening programmes
Circular Economy
Immunisation and vaccination
What we do
International collaboration
National tasks and activities
International projects and networks
COVID-19 in the Netherlands
RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment advises the Dutch government on how to control the coronavirus as effectively as possible, monitors the COVID-19 outbreak and conducts research into SARS-CoV-2. RIVM is coordinating the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccinations in the Netherlands. Our institute is responsible for coordinating the storage and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the Netherlands (including the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, St Eustatius, Saba, Curaçao and St Maarten).
We provide weekly updates and data on COVID-19 in the Netherlands. In addition to our general COVID-19 weekly epidemiological update, we also publish a COVID-19 weekly update for the CAS and BES islands: the islands of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten and the special municipalities Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. A newsletter for professionals involved in the COVID-19 vaccination is published regularly on our website.
Would you like to be kept informed on our work and activities? Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter. Read our international newsletter issue 4, 2021.
News
International research confirms: lockdowns have negative impact on many young people
Lockdowns have a negative impact on the physical and mental health of many young people. They get less exercise and experience more feelings of depression, loneliness and insecurity.
Nature Nanotechnology publishes RIVM research on plastics
On Thursday 20 January, Nature Nanotechnology published the article Quantitative tracing of uptake and transport of submicrometre plastics in crop plants using lanthanide chelates as a dual-functional tracer.
RIVM study confirms: Tata Steel site is main source of PAHs and metals in the IJmond region
A new study conducted by RIVM shows that the PAHs and metals present in the living environment of residents of the IJmond region predominantly originate from the Tata Steel site.
Quality of protective equipment insufficient during COVID-19 crisis
The personal protective equipment (PPE) purchased at the national level during the COVID-19 crisis for use in the healthcare sector only partly met the required standards of quality.
200 thousand people tested positive in one week
201,536 positive COVID-19 tests were reported to RIVM last week. That is an increase of 77% compared to the previous week. Such high numbers of reported infections within just one week have never been seen before in the Netherlands.
Omicron causes 35% increase in positive COVID-19 tests, despite lockdown
In the past week*, the number of reported positive COVID-19 tests increased by 35% compared to the week before that. The number of people tested by the GGD was about the same.
