From 1 June 2022, the heel prick test for Dutch newborns will also screen for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). SMA is a serious hereditary muscle condition. Detecting this disease at an early stage enables early treatment.

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.

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

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.

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.

In an interim injunction proceeding between Mesdag Zuivelfonds, Stichting Stikstofclaim and RIVM, the court has ruled that RIVM must decide on the availability and disclosure of data before 1 Janua

During World Antibiotic Awareness Week 2019, RIVM has set up an escape room in one of busiest shopping malls in the Netherlands.