The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is the central federal institution responsible for disease control and prevention and is therefore the central federal reference institution for both applied and response-orientated research as well as for the Public Health Sector.

Apart from the enforcement of special laws, the tasks at the RKI include the legal obligation to compile scientific findings as a basis for political decisions concerning health issues.

The RKI therefore communicates and cooperates with partners in the scientific sector, the Public Health Service and the Health Care Sector. The institute has major responsibilities in the field of scientific investigation, epidemiologic and medical analysis and evaluation of dangerous diseases and those with a high prevalence or of increased public or health-related political significance.

Its tasks are:

-Identification, surveillance and prevention of diseases, especially infectious diseases
-Monitoring and analysing long-term public health trends in Germany
-Epidemiological and medical analyses and evaluation of highly pathogenic, highly contagious diseases which are of -great significance for the public
-Providing a scientific basis for health-related political decision making
-Informing and advising political decision makers, the scientific sector and the general public
-Executive tasks defined by special laws, in particular with regard to protection from infection, legislation on stem cell research, and attacks using biological agents
-Federal health reporting.