Announcements

From Robert Steffen, Past President of ISTM:

The 4th Asia Pacific Travel Health Conference will take place October 21-23, 2002 in Shanghai, China. The Conference will be preceded (on October 20th) by a one-day basic travel medicine course, featuring many of the internationally best known «gurus» who will present a state-of-the art account of the ABCs in the practice of our field.

The Scientific Chairs, Eli Schwartz (Israel) and Santanu Chatterjee (India/ISTM Councillor), together with the Asia Pacific Travel Health Association Executives, Hanny Moniaga (Secretary/Indonesia and Nor Shahidah Khairullah (President-Elect/Malaysia), and a large and most competent group of the Chinese Organizing Committee developed the program at a special meeting in mid-August.

Let me just comment that this was one of the most constructive meetings I have ever attended. Those who will come to this conference next fall can expect a veritable «East meets West,» including news on available and future vaccines and malaria medication developed in Asia, so far unknown even to travel medicine veterans. Descriptions of the epidemiological situation in the Asia Pacific region will provide many with the «need to know» for daily practice.

At least as important, however, is what I have been able to experience as the «Spirit of Shanghai» in an atmosphere of superb hospitality. I do not just refer to truly authentic Chinese kitchen, but the possibility to discuss matters of common interest with many colleagues from other parts of one world. And all visitors will have an option to visit what I believe to be not only the largest Travel Clinic in the world, but probably the most beautiful one - or do any of you have a facility with its own large lily pond?

From David Freedman, Chair, ISTM Electronic Communications Committee:

We are very pleased to announce that through a collaboration with a prominent ISTM member in Japan at the National Institutes of Health, TravelMed postings are now being distributed in Japanese. Those Japanese members interested in joining this network should contact Dr. Mikio Kimura directly. Dr. Kimura is also on the Program Committee for the Asia Pacific Travel Health Conference in Shanghai in 2002, which is being jointly sponsored by ISTM. We look forward to increased relations with our travel medicine colleagues in Japan.

From Dr. Kimura:

Japanese TravelMed was recently launched by Dr. Yuka Ujita and myself. (You may remember Dr. Ujita from the Innsbruck Conference which she attended with her 7-month old baby! She is also the regional editor of the ISTM NewsShare. The postings are distributed on a Listserv named JOHAC FORUM. The Listserv includes 136 members, mainly physicians and nurses, with most of them involved in health issues of travelers and long-term expatriates. Presently, not all of the postings are summarized due to the lack of manpower. However, I am optimistic that we can recruit more members to do the work.

Mikio Kimura, M.D.
Infectious Disease Surveillance Center
National Institute of Infectious Diseases
1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
TEL: +81-3-5285-1111 (ext 2043),
FAX: +81-3-5285-1129
E-mail: kimumiki@nih.go.jp
Web: idsc.nih.go.jp/index-j.html

Body of Knowledge Posted on the ISTM Website

The Body of Knowledge for Travel Medicine has been completed and is posted in outline form on our website. Experts from around the world have weighed the various topics in terms of their importance in our daily practices. This Body of Knowledge will be useful to anyone considering practicing travel medicine, and for those developing courses or other teaching tools.

This Body of Knowledge will serve as the basis for an examination being developed for all travel health professionals. This exam will be administered prior to the opening of the CISTM 8 in New York in May 2003. Practitioners who successfully complete this examination will be awarded a Certificate of Knowledge in Travel Medicine by the ISTM. Additional information and registration details will appear in NewsShare and be posted on the ISTM website (www.istm.org.) as soon as they are available.