National Heat Plan active for parts of the Netherlands On August 2, 2018, the National Heat Plan has been activated for the provinces Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Gelderland, Utrecht, Overijssel and Drenthe.
Rubber granulate on synthetic turf fields causes environmental impact Use of rubber granulate sourced from car tyres, on synthetic turf fields can be harmful to the environment in the close vicinity of these fields.
Vaccination rate again drops slightly, HPV vaccination rate drops considerably The vaccination rate for vaccines included in the National Immunisation Programme has dropped slightly by about 1 percent.
National Heat Plan active The National Heat Plan became active in the Netherlands on June 19th. This means that it is necessary to take preventive health measures for vulnerable groups.
Meningococcal immunisation recommendations re-examined Meningococcal disease is a very serious infectious disease that can cause meningitis or blood poisoning. Children are immunised against meningococcal serogroup C at 14 months.
Scientific background information on rubber granulate now available in English In December 2016, RIVM published in Dutch the results of its research into the health risks of playing sports on synthetic turf pitches with rubber granulate.
Blood spot test extended as of 1 January 2017 to include two more disorders As of 1 January 2017, the disorders alpha and beta thalassaemia will be added to the neonatal blood spot (‘heel prick’) screening programme.
Guus Velders in Nature's "Ten people that mattered this year" Researcher Dr Guus Velders of RIVM has made the Nature top-10 list of 2016. This means that, according to Nature, he was one of the 10 most influential scientists in 2016.
Playing sports on synthetic turf fields with rubber granulate is safe New research by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) shows it is safe for people to play sports on synthetic turf fields with an infill of rubber granulate.
RIVM starts field research into rubber granulate RIVM has started to take samples of rubber granulate from 100 synthetic turf fields in the Netherlands.