King Philippe of the Belgians visited Sciensano, an institute that works in research development for national health and science under the principle of “One Health.”
During the visit, His Majesty was accompanied by Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke. The King had already visited another of the five quarters the institution has at the beginning of the global shutdown.
But aside from a brief mention of the previous visit and its reason, coronavirus was barely a topic during the day’s activities, with authorities focussing their explanations on the management of a potential crisis involving the contamination of food production.
His Majesty and the Minister sat down for a roundtable on the cooperation channels between the institute and all Belgian authorities, for example, during outbreaks of bird flu, swine flu or hepatitis.
Sciensano staff then guided King Philippe and Minister Vandenbroucke through a practical demonstration of how salmonella is detected in food batches before, during and after they are distributed to the public.
Sciensano was founded in 2018 from the merging of the Scientific Institute of Public Health and the Research and Study Centre for Veterinary and Agrochemicals. It bases its work on the principle of “One Health”, which dictates that human and animal health, as well as environmental management, are all factors that contribute to a better life.
The institution currently employs more than 700 people, all cooperating towards the monitoring of human and animal health, as well as the safety of food production.
Sciensano director, Mr Christian Léonard, emphasised the importance of their work, essential even if the health risk is as invisible as a virus or pollen. The Health Minister highlighted the challenge faced by the institute’s communicators when it came to explaining the reasons behind their public health decisions, whether during the pandemic or simply when it came to recalling a batch of food.
King Philippe only shared a few public words, thanking the institute for the “excellent work” they had done since the beginning of the pandemic.
