Dr Márta Vargha
Dr Márta Vargha gained her PhD in Environmental Sciences and is an environmental microbiologist specialising in water hygiene and public health. She is Head of the Water Hygiene Laboratory at Hungary’s National Center for Public Health and Pharmacy and Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Environmental Health Risk Management. She is also Associate Professor at the University of Debrecen.
Dr Vargha has played a leading role in protecting public health through the management of drinking water, bathing water and medicinal water quality. She has overseen national water quality monitoring programmes in Hungary, contributed to the development of water policy and analytical methods, and led research on drinking water safety, emerging contaminants, waterborne pathogens and wastewater surveillance. Her laboratory also runs Hungary’s public health wastewater surveillance system.
She has made important contributions to international water and health policy through her work with the World Health Organization and the UNECE-WHO/Europe Protocol on Water and Health, where she serves as Vice-Chair. As a technical adviser to WHO, she has contributed to international guidance on drinking water quality, recreational water quality and wastewater surveillance.
Dr Vargha has authored or co-authored numerous scientific publications on water quality, environmental microbiology and public health, including influential work on drinking water safety and waterborne disease prevention. Her research has been widely recognised internationally, receiving more than 2,000 citations.
Through her scientific leadership and public service, Dr Vargha has highlighted the fundamental importance of groundwater and safe water supplies to human health. By bringing together hydrogeology, water management and public health, she has helped strengthen understanding of the vital links between groundwater quality, drinking water security and human wellbeing.
Dr Márta Vargha fully deserves the award of IAH Distinguished Associate.
