National Institute of Public Health - National Institute of Hygiene

Name:

Prof. Miroslaw J. Wysocki

Justyna Car

Title:

Director

MD, researcher

Email:

mjwysocki@pzh.gov.pl

jcar@pzh.gov.pl

Telephone:

+48 (22) 542 12 02

+48 (22) 542 13 77

Fax:

+48 (22) 849 74 84

+48 (22) 542 13 75

Website:

http://www.pzh.gov.pl

Address:

National Institute of Public Health - National Institute of Hygiene
24 Chocimska str.
00-791 Warsaw

Country:

Poland

Profile

The National Institute of Public Health - National Institute of Hygiene (NIPH-NIH) is the main governmental public health reserach institute and the reference centre for the national network of sanitary epidemiological service. It cooperates with public health centres at provinvial level and other medical research institutes and institutions in Poland and abroad.

NIPH-NIH, which is the oldest public health institution in Poland, was created just a few days after the proclamation of the independence of Poland, on 21 November 1918. Together with changes in health and political situation and the development of medical science, the Institute’s functions were also evolving. It has always, however, been performing activities, of a practical and intervention as well as scientific and training nature, in several domains of public health.

At present, the scope of scientific interests of the Institute encompasses issues connected with the prevention of infectious diseases and socially important non-infectious diseases, the monitoring of the population’s health situation, the improvement of hygiene and sanitary conditions as well as the safety of natural environment. The NIPH-NIH is also an important centre of monitoring safety of food and objects of common use.

Moreover, an important part of the NIPH-NIH’s activities constitute: broadly defined health promotion and training specialists in public health. The Institute cooperates with many similar organizations, both national and international (WHO,DG Sanco, ECDC). The Institute also prepares expert’s reports concerning the broadly defined public health for government institutions and participates in the process of creating vital programs concerning public health in Poland (such as the National Health Program 2007-2015 and its monitoring).

Basic goals of NIPH- NIH:

Monitoring the population's health and factors determining diseases.
Quick reaction to health hazards caused by natural disasters, terrorism, epidemics and environmental pollution.
Preventing negative influence of the environment polluted with biological, chemical and physical agents on human health and life.
Health promotion.
Training of the public health sector staff.
Preparation of standards, plans and regulations, creation and assessment of national documents.

International cooperation

The NIPH-NIH extensively cooperates with EU institutions respect to, for instance, preventing and combating zoonoses and controlling HIV infections in Central and Eastern Europe.

The NIPH-NIH represents Poland in the EU’s network for the epidemiological surveillance over infectious diseases (TESSy – The European Surveillance System), coordinated by ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control). The Institute also cooperates in the creation and development of this network and is responsible for verifying, transferring and updating data about Polish cases of contracting infectious diseases which are under the surveillance in the EU. The Institute maintains epidemiological surveillance over influenza as part of the EISS (European Influenza Surveillance Scheme) and prepares reports about strains of influenza virus for WHO.

The NIPH-NIH also participates in an international project concerning public health genomics and in the EU project, DETERMINE, which concerns, e.g., social and economic determinants of health inequalities .

The NIPH-NIH’s representatives are members of the Advisory Forum of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Public Health Program Committee of the European Commission.

The Institute cooperates with the WHO Regional Office with respect to the “Health 21” strategy and the Centre for Monitoring and Analyses of Population Health Status of the NIPH-NIH acts as the National Focal Point.

As part of the cooperation with the European Commission in Luxembourg, within the NIPH-PZH the National Focal Point for the “Community Health Program” has been created.

Health in Country

In the context of the project 'Capacity Building for health promotion in Central and Eastern Europe', the Institute elaborated a brief profile of the situation with respect to health promotion in Poland Health Promotion in Poland as well as a Capacity Plan for enhancing health promotion.

Projects & Programmes

NIPH-NIH participates in many EU programs and networks, e.g.:

EUROHIV (Exchange of epidemiological data on AIDS and HIV infection in Europe)
EPIET (European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training)
MedVetNet - Network of Excellence (Network for Prevention and Control of Zoonoses)
EUVAC.NET programs (Surveillance Community Network for Vaccine Preventable Infectious Diseases)
EU-IBIS (European Union Invasive Bacterial Infections Surveillance)
POLYMOD (Improving Public Health Policy in Europe through the Modeling and Economic Evaluation of Interventions for the Control of Infectious Diseases)
IPSE (Improving Patient Safety Europe)
CASCADE (Concerted Action on SeroConversion to AIDS and Heath in Europe)
INSIGHT (International Network of National Public Health Institutes Sharing Information, Expertise and Capabilities in Order to Grapple with Major Health Threats)
VACSATC (Vaccine Safety – Attitudes, Training, Communication)
EQADeBa - Establishment of Quality Assurances for Detection of highly pathogenic Bacteria of potential bioterrorism risk.
PASEO - Building Policy Capacities for Health Promotion Through Physical Activity Among Sedentary Older People.
CLEAR - Climat Change, Environmental Contaminants and Reproductive Health.
VENICE II - Projekt Vaccine European New Integrated Collaboration Effort
EuSANH-ISA Improving Science Advice for Health in Europe, European Science Advice Network for Health.

The Institute is also a member of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI)

News & Publications

Health situation of the Polish population, ed by B. Wojtyniak and P. Goryński, Warsaw, NIPH-NIH 2008 (in Polish) http://www.pzh.gov.pl/page/fileadmin/user_upload/PZH_Raport_2008.pdf
Wysocki M. J., Zejda J. E.: Development of epidemiology of non-communicable diseases in Poland. W: Walter W. Holland, Jorn Olsen, Charles du V. Florey (ed.): The Development of Modern Epidemiology: Personal Reports From Those Who Were There. Oxford University Press.,Oxford 2007, 385-393.
Cianciara D.: Health Education and Its Workforce in Political Transition – The Case of Poland. W: Leading-Edge Health Education Issues, ed. Lennard V. Sebeki, Nova Science Publishers, Inc., New York, 2008,19-24.
Romanowska M., Nowak I., Brydak L. B., Wojtyła A.: Testing of human specimens for the presence of highly pathogenic zoonotic avian influenza virus A(H5N1) in Poland in 2006-2008 – justified or unnecessary steps? AAEM 2009, 16, 239-247.
Więsik-Szewczyk E., Romanowska M., Mielnik P., Chwalińska-Sadowska H., Brydak L. B., Olesińska M., Ząbek J. Anti-influenza vaccination in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: an analysis of specific humoral rsponse and vaccination safety. Clinical Rhumatology 2010, 29(6), 605-613.
Romanowska M., Banaszkiewicz A., Nowak I., Radzikowski A., Brydak L. B.
Immunisation against influenza during the 2005/2006 epidemic season and the humoural response in children with diagnosed inflammatory bowel disease Medical Science Monitor 2010, 16(9), CR: 433-439.
Stecko S., Jurczak M., Urbańczyk-Lipkowska Z., Solecka J., Chmielewski M.: Synthesis of pyrrolizidine alkaloids via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition involving cyclic nitrones and unsaturated lactones, Carbohydrate Research 343, 2215-2220, (2008).
Stecko S., Solecka J., Chmielewski M.: Synthesis of casuarine-related derivatives via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between a cyclic nitrone and an unsaturated γ-lactone, Carbohydrate Research 344, 167-176 (2009).
Stecko S., Paśniczek K., Jurczak M., Solecka J., Chmielewski M.: Synthesis of the potential mannosidase inhibitor via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition involving cyclic nitrowe and unsaturated chiral γ-lactone. Polish J. Chem., 83, (2009).
Stecko S., Jurczak M., Staszewska-Krajewska O., Solecka J. and Chmielewski M.: Synthesis of polyhydroxylated 7-aminopyrrolizidines and 8-aminoindolizidines. Tetrahedron 65, 7056-7063, (2009).
Solecka J., Rajnisz A. and Laudy A. E. A novel isoquinoline alkaloid, DD-carboxypeptidase inhibitor, with antibacterial activity isolated from Streptomyces sp. 8812. Part I: Taxonomy, fermentation, isolation and biological activities. The Journal of Antibiotics advance online publication, 28 August 2009; 65, 7056-7063, 2009 ;doi:10.1038/ja.2009.85.
Solecka J., Sitkowski J., Bocian W., Bednarek E., Kawecki R. and Kozerski L. A novel isoquinoline alkaloid, DD-carboxypeptidase inhibitor, with antibacterial activity isolated from Streptomyces sp. 8812. Part II: Physicochemical properties and structure elucidation. The Journal of Antibiotics advance online publication, 28 August 2009; doi:10.1038/ja.2009.86.
Polcyn P., Jurczak M., Rajnisz A., Solecka J., Urbanczyk-Lipkowska Z.: Design of Antimicrobially Active Small Amphiphilic Peptide Dendrimers. Molecules 2009, 14, 3881-3905; doi:10.3390/molecules14103881.
Skotak K, Świątczak J. Environment and Health. Performance Review. Poland. WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2009.
Quaterly journals