The Statute of the National Institute of Hygiene granted by the Minister of Health and Social Welfare on 30 October 1992 defines as the basic task of the Institute
„prowadzenie badań naukowych i usługowo-badawczych z zakresu higieny, mikrobiologii, epidemiologii i statystyki medycznej dostosowanych do potrzeb ochrony zdrowia ludności”
October 15, 2007 on the basis of the Regulation of the Minister of Health (Journal of Laws No. 203, item 1466) the name of the National Institute of Hygiene was changed into the National Institute of Public Health – National Institute of Hygiene.
The specific tasks of NIZP-PZH include running:
„…badań związanych z zapobieganiem chorobom będących następstwem zmian w środowisku człowieka”, „…działalności profilaktycznej na rzecz ochrony zdrowia” oraz „…sprawowanie specjalistycznego nadzoru w dziedzinie higieny, epidemiologii i mikrobiologii”
According to the Statute, the main directions of the Institute’s scientific interests are currently comprehensive studies on the impact of various environmental factors on human health. These include problems arising from human activities, such as studies on human exposure to chemical pollution, toxicological studies on pesticides, exposure to carcinogenic environmental contamination, as well as research related to the epidemiological situation of infectious and invasive diseases in the country, in particular viral inflammation hepatitis, which has been a serious problem for years, as well as new disturbing phenomena, such as infection of the acquired immunodeficiency virus (AIDS) virus. These studies are closely related to the work of improving the methods of determining the risk factors examined, such as chemical and microbiological contamination of food and objects of use, diagnosis of bacterial infections and parasitoses, etc. The National Institute of Hygiene as a Research and Research Institute educates specialists who appreciate they are employed both at scientific institutes around the world and as experts of the World Health Organization. Among other things, PZH employees as specialists employed by the WHO participated in the program for the eradication of smallpox in the world, organization of the world vaccination program against children against tuberculosis, tetanus, newborns, diphtheria, pertussis, measles and poliomyelitis. Substantive preparation and experience of the Institute’s employees were the basis for establishing 12 reference centers at PZH.