The Division for water safety, environmental sanitation and health ecotoxicology performs a wide range of activities in the area of the environment and the impacts on the health of the population in the Republic of Macedonia. Mainly, the activities are part of the National Annual Program for Public Health (NAPPH) for the current year, adopted on the basis of the Law on Public Health (Official Gazette of R. Macedonia 37/16) as well as the Law on Health Care (Official Gazette of RNM 77 /21, 122/21 and 178/21), but also other laws and bylaws related to the environment above all. The goal is to protect the population from the potential harmful effect of numerous risk factors from the environment on the health of the population in R N Macedonia.

Assessments of the health impact of polluted air on the population’s health have been carried out independently for years as a result of improved access to the data needed for such assessments, as well as professional training and interest of the experts in the Division. Continuous monitoring of the quality and safety of all types of water except waste water (drinking water, bathing water, surface water and underground water, natural mineral and spring water or water for various other purposes) is a traditional and long-standing activity of the Division. Monitoring access to water and sanitation with a special emphasis on the school environment, as well as monitoring diseases related to them, are a challenge and a condition we strive for improvement. Of course, the rest of the risk factors from the environment, especially the new challenges and their impact on human health, are followed with great interest and attention.

Coordinating and expert methodological assistance and cooperation with the ten regional Centers for Public Health in RNM in the area of communal hygiene and Health Ecology is carried out in accordance with the activities provided by the NAPPH.

The multidisciplinary approach is applied in practice through cooperation first of all with the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning as well as other ministries and institutions of the system, especially in the area of drafting legal or by-laws, approximation of the legislation of the Republic of Macedonia with the EU legislation through participation in working groups. Expert opinions and expert assessments are prepared at the request of various stakeholders, but also at the request of concerned, citizens or civil associations.

The employees of the Division carry out scientific and teaching activities at the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje (The Ss. Cyril and Methodius University), in the field of Hygiene and Health Ecology and Public Health, for various study programs.