It is largely assumed within the scientific community that a healthy intestinal microbiome can provide resistance against the settling, growth and multiplication of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Now not only girls, but also boys will have the opportunity to protect themselves from cancer caused by HPV.

Employees at sewage and wastewater treatment plants in the Netherlands and Germany are not more likely to carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria than other people.

The percentage of children receiving vaccinations from the National Immunisation Programme rose again last year. Another striking note is the 10% increase in HPV vaccination, rising to 63%.

In 2020, the year of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, resistant bacteria were not found more often in patients in the Netherlands than before the outbreak.

More nitrogen and phosphorus have been ending up in the soil on farms since 2015. As a result, nitrate concentrations have been rising since 2017 in leachates and ditch water from those farms.

In 2019, the calculated concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10) were below the European limit values ​​in almost the whole of the Netherlands. Locally, the limit value for nitrogen dioxide is still being exceeded.

National immunisation coverage has increased for the first time in five years, for almost all vaccinations. For children born in 2017, vaccination coverage against mumps, measles and rubella (MMR) increased by 0.7% to 93.6%.

Worldwide, the number of bacteria resistant to antibiotics is increasing. In the Netherlands, this number generally remains stable and is less high than in many other countries.