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Dutch National Atlas of Public Health

Target Group of the Atlas

The Dutch National Atlas of Public Health serves a broad group of visitors. It targets health professionals, such as policy advisers of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports, regional and local authorities and staff members of Municipal Health Services. But it also provides relevant and interesting information for health suppliers, patients, health insurers, researchers and information officials.

What is the Atlas?

The Dutch National Atlas of Public Health is a web-based Atlas that maps the regional distribution of health related matters. It not only includes information on the occurrence of curtain health-issues – such as epidemics, vaccinations or obesity – but also on the geographic spread of related variables. Visitors find a large variety of maps that are mainly derived from the statistical datasets and scientfic studies of other institutions. Using such visual tools, it brings together up-to-date geographic information that helps the visitor gain a better insight into the public health situation in the Netherlands. The National Atlas also works in close cooperation with the kompas Dutch National Compass of Public Health

Frequent updates with new topics

The Atlas is in a process of constant actualization. Four times a year there is a new release available on the web in which the existing maps are updated. In these releases we also present maps on new topics, that are related to existing Atlas data or to current social issues.

Producing the Atlas

The Atlas is developed and coordinated at the “Department of Public Health Status and Forecasting” which is part of the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). Nationwide, experts, research institutes and universities have contributed to contribute to the National Atlas of Public Health in their area of expertise. The Dutch Ministry of Health (VWS) commissioned the Atlas.

Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM)

Centrum voor Volksgezondheid Toekomst Verkenningen (cVTV)

Postbus 1,

3720 BA Bilthoven

Fax: (030) 274 4450

E-mail: atlas@rivm.nl

Examples

The spread of infectious diseases is one of the items with a clear geographical pattern. At an international level these patterns are described by various authors/organisations for a wide variety of infectious diseases, such as SARS, and bird flu. On a national scale, the data on for example Rubella (German Measles) during the 2004-2005 outbreak also show a clear geographical pattern.

Other maps that are available in a English version

English. In: Volksgezondheid Toekomst Verkenning, Nationale Atlas Volksgezondheid. Bilthoven: RIVM, <http://www.zorgatlas.nl> Zorgatlas, 15 juli 2010.