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“Jointly improve global health” was the spirit that motivated the organizers of the first European Conference on Tropical Medicine and International Health (ECTMIH), in Hamburg in 1995, to formalize a collaboration between professionals active in tropical medicine and international health throughout Europe into a formal partnership. Twenty-five years later the Federation has evolved into a thriving network of sixteen national societies or platforms active in tropical medicine and global health.

FESTMIH’s mission is to improve the health status of people worldwide through establishing partnerships and mobilizing professionals in global health and tropical medicine in Europe and beyond, and by promoting and disseminating research and development in global health and tropical medicine (festmih.eu). The latter is done through the publication of TMIH, the official journal of FESTMIH, and the organization of the ECTMIH every two years.

In collaboration with its member societies, FESTMIH has organized eleven ECTMIHs throughout Europe, the most recent one in Liverpool in 2019. Besides scientific presentations, the congresses proved they could serve other purposes as well, including the organization of debates and networking in the field of tropical medicine and global health. The congress title of the 5th ECTMIH in Amsterdam (2007, organised by the NVTG) Partnership and innovation in Global He@lth illustrated this gradual shift in focus. For the first time, member societies were invited to host organized sessions and workshops, something which has become a standard feature of the ECTMIHs.

Over the past 25 years, the congresses transitioned from mainly focusing on tropical diseases and international health to also including debate on other issues in global health. This shift was clear in the 2009 Verona congress, titled Equity, human rights and access to care. This congress involved a wide community in the discussion on human rights dynamics in global health and eventually led to the formulation of the Verona Declaration, emphasizing the right to health as a fundamental human right for all people irrespective of origin, ethnicity and legal status (see festmih.eu). The Antwerp congress in 2017, titled Health in (r)evolution. Environment – migration – technology – empowerment fed the debate on the role and position of tropical medicine, global health and international cooperation in the 21st century, taking into consideration human migration, environmental change, technological innovation and political power shifts. The theme “migration and health” was a prominent feature of the 7th congress in Barcelona in 2011, and will feature again at the upcoming 12th ECTMIH in Bergen in September 2021, under the title Global challenges in health, migration and equity. For all the latest news, abstract submission dates and updates, check the congress site: ectmih2021.no