Health for all
FESTMIH was founded in 1994 in the build-up to the 1995 inaugural European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health in Hamburg.
Nearly thirty years on, we have established a vibrant network of European societies and platforms in the domain of global health and tropical medicine.
The steady growth of the network ensures continuity of our work, and opens new possibilities for joint action in research and development, dissemination of knowledge, advocacy and exchange of experiences in the field of global health and tropical medicine.
Membership is open to national societies or platforms / forums of professionals with an interest in tropical medicine and global health. We welcome new societies or organisations to our network to jointly work on achieving our mission.
Our activities
- FESTMIH is the patron and co-organiser of the European Congresses on Tropical Medicine and International Health (ECTMIH) Since 1995 we have co-organised 13 ECTMIHs throughout Europe
- We organise joint sessions of member societies at European / international congresses in global health and tropical medicine
- We publish the journal Tropical Medicine and International Health
- We liaise with European Schools of global health and tropical medicine
We support research and development in the interest of global health and tropical medicine - We advocate for universal access to health and equity in health
Our vision
We envision a world of equity in health for all, a goal for which FESTMIH supports a community of practice in global health and tropical medicine.
Our mission
Our mission is to improve the health status of people worldwide: through establishing partnerships and mobilising professionals, and by promoting and disseminating research in global health and tropical medicine.
Our values
- Universal access: we support universal access to health and equity in health
- Inclusiveness: we strive for inclusiveness
- Global health and tropical medicine: we are a professional organisation building on the interdisciplinary expertise of our member societies
- Diversity: we emphasize the value and importance of cultural diversity and human rights in achieving better health for all
- Collaboration: we promote European and global collaboration and networking in global health and tropical medicine
- Research and development: we believe in the crucial role of research and development, with emphasis on low resource settings / low- and middle-income countries, in achieving better health for all
The thinking behind the FESTMIH logo
We know it’s bad to cut down trees, but the tropical tree just wasn’t entirely representative anymore in the light of Global Health and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Our new logo stands for what FESTMIH aims to be in future:
- At the heart of it is the red circle, referring to ‘global health,’ including tropical medicine and research, but also to a round table of dialogue and collaboration.
- In the circle are many lines, representing the great diversity of actors within FESTMIH of different ages, professions and countries.
- The circle is open, because FESTMIH aims to be inclusive, open to other actors and networks. The circle also represents the rippling of water, since we want to contribute to change, change towards Global Health, together with other networks. Finally, the circle also represents a maze, referring to research, whether state-of-the art or local action-research.
- The text-balloon: dialogue reveals the importance of talking to each other.
