Twelve years of MTb (2013-2025) summarised in 12 points

Now that the era of Medicus Tropicus bulletin (MTb) is coming to an end, it seems appropriate to look back and summarise what MTb has offered the readership of the Netherlands Society of Tropical Medicine and International Health (NVTG) and also all those who were interested in reading a monthly update on current issues in Tropical Medicine and Public Health.
We have tried to summarise the organisation and the contents of MTb in 12 points, with highlights and trends.

The editorial board

The membership of the editorial board was entirely on a voluntary basis and open-ended depending on the availability of the editor. In the past 12 years, we saw the editor-in-chief:

• Lucie Blok († 2022) : 2005 – 2008
• Hans Borgstein: 2008 – 2011
• Hans Wendte: 2011 – 2015
• Leon Bijlmakers: 2015 – 2020
• Ed Zijlstra and Ed Zijlstra (ad interim): 2020 – 2023
• Esther Jurgens: 2023 – 2025

The other members of the editorial board joined on their own initiative, or after having been introduced, or after responding to an advertisement. Over time, a considerable number of young doctors and other health professionals joined the editorial board; some stayed for a relatively short period of time as their still developing career took them to remote places and/or they needed to focus on other commitments. Others contributed for a longer period, which caused instability. Overall, finding people who were interested in those challenges, although there were no doubt important benefits, although they could help in developing writing skills and the supervision of senior members, and exposure to the most recent developments in Tropical Medicine and Global Health, as well as the social and professional network of the Editorial Board, could also bring benefits.

The editorial team

While the editing of the manuscripts was done by the editorial board (which was a time-consuming and elaborate task), the production process was supported by assistance from the secretariat and / or copy editors (Lies Lammers, Hanneke de Vries, José Hoppenbrouwers, Hein Dirix, Lieven Eleazar Birnbaum); and the design was provided by ‘Mevrouw van Mulken’.

General philosophy

From 2013, MTb adopted a thematic approach ranging from a clinical topic in the field of Tropical Medicine or a current issue in Public Health to current issues such as climate and migrant health or cross-cutting issues such as Ethical issues in Global Health and Essential Medicines. Of the four issues in each year, the third issue was matched with the theme of the annual meeting of the NVTG that takes place in September.
While the title of each issue may suggest a uniform content and focus, in practice, if possible, each issue sought a balance between public health and clinical issues.

The readers

The readership consisted of members of the NVTG of whom many would be in training for Physicians Global Health and Tropical Medicine (PGHTM), a unique hybrid of Clinical Medicine and Public Health training. Others would include anyone interested or those who retired and those outside the Netherlands.

The topics

New developments in Global Health and/or Tropical Medicine were addressed, such as Covid-19, migrant health, brain drain, climate/planetary health, essential medicines (including fake medicines) and digital health. Remarkable issues were highlighted such as new technology in the treatment of burn injuries (MTb 2021-2 vol 59); or ethical dilemmas in Global Health – Training a next generation of ethics: developing a training course for local public health practitioners in a postwar conflict’ (MTb 2018-3 vol 57).

The guest editor

For reason of quality assurance, guest editors were invited as much as possible in order to have better access to expert input and to include articles on recent trends and developments. Wherever possible, contributions from the Global South were invited, often with remarkable success.

The case report

The case reports from Consult Online are among the contributions that form the backbone of MTb; the cases come from the field, mostly from the Physicians Global Health and Tropical Medicine (now Medical Doctors in Global Health) who have completed the 2 year and 9 months training program as provided by the Training Institute Global Health and Tropical Medicine (OIGT) under auspices of the NVTG, and who work in a low-resource setting. Cases are presented to experts in the Netherlands for advice and written up for publication. Virtually all of them are gems in the field of tropical medicine and the Consult Online editors would do well to publish these cases in the future as a book.

The other colleague

A relatively new introduction to content from the sister journal Tropical Medicine and International Health, in which colleagues were invited to discuss issues such as their career, working environment, and contributions to Tropical Medicine and Global Health, for example: Meet Frank Mockenhaupt: an advocate for Noma by Maud Ariaans (MTb 2021-3).

The book review

Another new addition was the book review, highlighting new publications that in one way or another could be related to Tropical Medicine and Global Health. Among highlights are the hilarious book Physician watch thyself by Pieter van den Hombergh (MTb 2022-4) and {everybody-should-read-this} The Power of Women by Dennis Mukwege.

Wide distribution

MTb was made available free of charge in electronic format on the website of the NVTG; those who were interested could obtain a hard copy at a fee. Well before 2013, in 2007 with the introduction of a new layout and a new name (MTBulletin of the NVTG), it was decided to publish the MTb in English for wider distribution, including partners in low- and middle-income countries.

The new platform

Twelve years of MTb provides a wealth of information about virtually all aspects of Tropical Medicine and Global Health. All issues are available from the website of the NVTG; all previous issues of Medicus Tropicus have been scanned and will be available on the Platform: Global Health Perspectives.

Esther Jurgens

Last, but not least: Esther Jurgens has been the driving force behind MTb over the years, and still is, now that a new format will be introduced. Without her commitment, all this would not have been possible (Figure 1). Her contributions to the NVTG are not limited to MTb but include a wide range of service, support and advice in all aspects that are close to the aims and objectives of the Society.

I am confident that all those who have contributed to MTb, the readership of MTb, and members of the NVTG will join me in giving Esther a big hug and saying “THANK YOU!”

List of all 44 publications of MTb

Published between 2013 – 2024: year of publication, title and broad category.