National Institute for Public Health and the Environment
The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment is a Dutch research institute that is an independent agency of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.
RIVM performs tasks to promote public health and a safe living environment by conducting research and collecting knowledge worldwide. The results are used to support the Government of the Netherlands in formulating its policy. RIVM's primary tasks are:
- research
- policy support
- national coordination
- intervention programmes
- provision of reliable information to the public and to professionals working in health care about infectious diseases, the environment, nutrition and safety.
History
RIVM was founded in 1910 when the Central Laboratory for Public Health was created.The present size of the institute is the result of a merger between three government institutes in 1984.
RIVM has become a large, complex organisation with many different international links and a range of activities.
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.
By July 2021, the RIVM, which was a reference laboratory for the World Health Organization, recognized five types of COVID test technology:
- the PCR test
- the loop-mediated isothermal amplification test
- the antigen test
- the serological test
- the breathalyzer test