ECTMIH congresses bring together professionals in tropical medicine and global health

FESTMIH & ECTMIH

In 1994 a group of experts in tropical medicine and international health from various countries in Europe established FESTMIH: the Federation of European Societies of Tropical Medicine and International Health with a main focus on organising congresses on current issues in tropical medicine and global health in Europe.

The aim of ECTMIH, in its early days up to now is to provide a platform for presenting state-of-the art updates, and debating scientific developments and breakthroughs in tropical medicine and global health. What started as a relatively small gathering of professionals in the field gradually developed into a leading congress attracting many scientists, practitioners and policy makers from Europe and beyond.

FESTMIH remained the patron of ECTMIH, and since the first edition in Hamburg in 1995, we co-organised 12 ECTMIHs throughout Europe. We actively stimulate the participation of member societies in the Congress.

ECTMIH 2023 to be held in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

After 16 years the congress will return to the Netherlands. Co-organisers are the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands Society for Tropical Medicine and International Health (NVTG) and FESTMIH.

Save the date: 20 -23 November 2023. The overarching theme is Planetary Health. The overarching theme is planetary health. More information will follow shortly.

Previous congresses were:

• 3rd in Lisbon (2002)
• 4th in Marseille (2005), theme: ‘Medicine and Health in the Tropics’ (abstract book)
• 5th in Amsterdam (2007): ‘Partnership and Innovation in Global He@lth’ (abstract book)
• 6th in Verona (2009)- Equity, Human Rights and Access to Care (abstract book)
• 7th in Barcelona (2011): Global Change. Migration and Health (abstract book)
• 8th in Copenhagen (2013)
• 9th in Basel (2015): Driving the Best Science to Meet Global Health Challenges (abstract book)
• 10th in Antwerp (2017): Health in (r)evolution. Environment – migration – technology – empowerment (facebook page)
• 11th in Liverpool (2019)
• 12th in Bergen (2021)

Change in focus

The titles of the congresses reflect a transition from mainly focusing on tropical diseases to also include debate on other issues in global health. The congress in Amsterdam was the first to include this focus in its programme and debate, including the role of new and innovative partnerships in health research.

This trend continued with the Verona congress involving a wider community in discussing human rights dynamics in global health (see the Verona Declaration), up to the 10th ECTMIH in Antwerp which aimed “to provide a forum for reflection on the role and position of tropical medicine, global health and international cooperation in the 21st century, taking into consideration disruptive changes such as human migration, environmental evolution, technological innovation and political power shifts”.

ECTMIH continues to stimulate the active participation of researchers from LMICs, global thinkers, policy and decision makers in the programme, and to include debates on the role of cooperation agencies and of scientific institutes in the field of global health. Crosscutting themes at the congresses included diagnostic innovation, drug resistance and development, global research ethics and the role of social sciences in international health research.