Task and Procedure
The Health Council of the Netherlands serves as an independent scientific advisory body with a statutory responsibility to advise ministers and Parliament in the field of public health and health/healthcare research. Ministers ask the Council for advice which they can use to substantiate policy decisions. The Health Council also has a signalling role, as it can also give unsolicited advice.
The legal task of the Health Council steers its operating procedures. These involve the meticulous gathering and assessment of scientific data from a policy point of view. The quality of this process is guaranteed in a number of ways, including consultation of multidisciplinary committees with a professional secretariat, a code for the prevention of improper influence due to conflicts of interests, international cooperation, and the review of draft advisory reports.