The Scientific Institute of Public Health (IPH) is a scientific institute of the federal Belgian State. Its main mission is scientific research to support the federal health policy. It provides also expertise and public service in the field of public health. The IPH plays an important role as part of the Belgian representation at the level of the European Union and some international organisations as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Council of Europe, whenever scientific and/or technical aspect of public health are involved. The main activities of the IPH are related to the following fields: Surveillance of communicable diseases Surveillance of non-communicable diseases Verification of federal product norms (e.g. food, pharmaceuticals, vaccines) Risk assessment (e.g. chemical products, genetically modified organisms (GMO's) Environment and health Management of biological resources (collections of strains of microorganisms)