Preparing for major outbreaks of infectious diseases

The government will work harder to fight infectious diseases and strengthen public health organisations such as municipal health services (GGDs) and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). That's why the government is taking measures:

Monitoring diseases

The government is investing more than €34 million a year in early detection and monitoring of infectious diseases. Even if only one person is infected at first, a disease can spread fast. The government is giving RIVM extra funds to study the causes of infectious diseases, such as viruses and bacteria, and ways of fighting them. This is part of RIVM's ongoing work – even when there isn’t a big outbreak. RIVM shares this information so that infectious diseases can be tackled quickly and efficiently.

Preventing zoonoses

It's important to prevent animal diseases from crossing over to humans. That’s why extra funding will go to increasing our understanding of zoonoses (infectious diseases that people can catch from animals). This is not just important for healthcare workers and people who work with animals. Everyone needs to know about the risks of zoonoses.

New crisis organisation

A new crisis organisation has been set up to prepare for and act quickly in the case of a future pandemic. It will, for instance, sign contracts to quickly recruit extra healthcare workers when needed for testing, vaccinating and treating people. The new crisis organisation is part of RIVM. 

More staff with knowledge of infectious diseases

The GGDs are hiring new staff, as well as upskilling and reskilling  staff. They are also hiring more doctors specialised in infectious diseases. The GGDs also receive money to do research into fighting infectious diseases more effectively.

Smarter use of IT

The government is working with RIVM and the GGDs to develop compatible IT systems for effective infectious disease control. These systems will be very secure and capable of processing a lot of information at the same time. For example, they can keep track of how many people are sick and what they are infected with. This information helps healthcare workers and policymakers make decisions, and helps researchers find out whether measures to combat diseases are working. People will have access to their personal data in the system and will be able to decide who else is allowed to see it.

Nationwide measures

The government can impose nationwide measures if necessary to fight an infectious disease that is spreading across the country. For instance, people could be required to practise social distancing. But this would only happen if there is no alternative. This is laid down in the Public Health Act. 

Cooperation with the Caribbean part of the Netherlands

Central government cooperates with the local authorities in the Caribbean part of the Netherlands. It provides €2.5 million a year to a Caribbean-Dutch expertise network that helps fight infectious diseases and is well informed about the local situation.

Expanding knowledge

Central government is making more money available for research, for example to find out how viruses spread and what the effects are of ventilation. This type of knowledge is important in fighting diseases.

Healthcare in the Netherlands needs to be flexible. If there is a major outbreak of an infectious disease, a lot of people will need healthcare very quickly. It should be easier for healthcare workers to work at other locations than they usually do, and for regular care to continue even if the number of patients increases quickly. That's why the government is increasing healthcare capacity through:

• the national healthcare reserve (in Dutch), a network of former or current health workers who are available at short notice in the event of a new pandemic. They receive refresher training. The government aims to have 5,000 people in the national healthcare reserve;
• training for health workers so they can be assigned more flexibly. For example, an extra 500 places are available for acute care basic training;
• more cooperation between providers of acute care, safety regions, and provincial and national authorities;
• more focus on hygiene and preventing infections in residential care and nursing homes. This means, first of all, increasing knowledge about good hygiene practices (for example through a project like All eyes on hygiene at work). 
   

If there is another pandemic, we will need to be able to get medical supplies quickly, from face masks to medicines and vaccines. That's why the government supports efforts to:

• increase the production of medical supplies in the Netherlands and Europe;
• train specialists for vaccine production;
• make European agreements with vaccine producers on vaccine production during emergencies;
• speed up review procedures for new medicines during crisis situations.