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At the peak of the first wave of coronavirus infections, Global Health & Tropical Medicine (GH&TM) physicians assisted in several hospitals to deal with pandemic in the Netherlands. Their experience and knowledge was acknowledged, including taking a solution-oriented approach and improvising safely and effectively in critical situations. Dutch physicians with a background in GH&TM were also involved in the development of a guideline for a medical check-up of refugee children upon entry to the Netherlands.
These are just two illustrations of how global health knowledge acquired abroad, can be applied in the Netherlands. Facilitating this process of knowledge transfer on global health in a structured way is at the heart of the newly established Dutch organisation Knowledge Connectors Global Health (KCGH).
The initiative of the NVTG and OIGT – the training institute GH&TM – resulted in the establishment of KCGH, with financial support from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS). In March 2021, the KCGH team started operations: Anke Tijtsma (Director), Fleur Nieuwland (Operations Officer), Nienke Freije (Jr. Communications Advisor) and Leontien Laterveer (Sn. Communications Advisor).
In recent months, we worked on KCGH’s mission, vision and strategy, launched www.kcgh.nl, hosted a meeting with the NVTG working parties, and created a LinkedIn group. KCGH co-organised the NVTG symposium on mental global health and the Dutch Global Health Film Festival. Other activities are currently being developed, for which we are inviting you – students and young professionals in GH and TM, not limited to GH medical doctors – to share your ideas on how to act upon our mandate of supporting knowledge transfer from global health experience and skills acquired in low- and middle-income countries for the Dutch health (care) sector.
