September 11th, Travel Medicine, ISTM Meeting in N.Y. in 2003

Three ISTM VIPs “at sea” in New York Harbor on their way to Ellis Island, to check out the site of the CISTM8 opening ceremony. From left to right: Hans Dieter Nothdurft, Chair, Scientific Program Committee; Brad Connor, Chair, CISTM8; Louis Loutan, President, ISTM.

(From the opening address at the III European Conference on Travel Medicine in Florence, Italy, 15 May 2002.)

As long as we live, each of us will recall the moment when we first heard the news that terrorists had attacked America. As long as we live, September 11^th will be part of our vocabulary, and part of our psyche. Sadly, many of you can relate to acts of terrorism in your own countries.

I live in New York, and I was home that day, a day off from my office, a day I set aside to prepare slides for an upcoming lecture on traveling with children. A doctor from my office called me to verify the news. He knew that I could step out on my terrace and see for myself.

And I saw. I saw black smoke rising from the World Trade Center, and I smelled the burning ashes. I rushed to my television set, just in time to see the second aircraft slice into the other tower. The next time I went out on the terrace, there was more smoke, and the wind had shifted, and a dark cloud was overhead.

On that day, the forces of evil scored a dramatic victory, likely a victory beyond their wildest fantasies. They had chosen their targets carefully, and had done their homework well, killing thousands of innocent people, not only Americans, but hundreds of others from dozens of countries around the world. And they brought down the Twin Towers, towers that for many people had come to symbolize a better world through international unity and trade.

In an extraordinary destiny of fate, in the years leading up to September 11^th, we at the International Society of Travel Medicine were also busy doing our homework to choose a site for our 2003 meeting. We also had chosen New York. And we had also chosen the Twin Towers as our symbol, and probably for many of the same reason as did the terrorists: for what New York represents, and because of what the towers had come to symbolize, a forward looking world, international unity. On September 11^th, the twin towers were already posted as our logo on our website and on our sample brochures.

September 11^th had many profound effects on the travel medicine community. As the webmaster, and the editor of the ISTM newsletter, I received over a hundred emails of sympathy from our members around the world, asking if they could help us in New York, and if our members in the New York area were safe. Some asked what will happen to travel medicine.

The terrorists had not only killed several thousand people, and with the clear intent to kill many more, but they used airplanes for their purpose, turning airplanes into missiles of death and destruction. Airplanes are almost as much a part of travel medicine as are vaccines.

For the moment at least, the terrorist had shattered our hopes and dreams. Many of us reflected how fortunate we were - or had been up to then: to simultaneously practice our professions - medicine and health care; partake in our interest - international travel; and work to help people in other parts of the world to overcome disease and poverty.

Travel medicine came to an almost complete halt last September. Travelers everywhere cancelled their appointments at travel clinics, and did not make new ones. Telephones stopped ringing. The few calls that did come in asked, "Is it safe to travel?" not "Is it safe to drink the water?" And they asked about whether they should get injections for anthrax and smallpox, not about yellow fever or typhoid. From my survey of travel clinics around the world, in the weeks after September 11^th, visits at most clinics decreased between 50 to 75%.

Overworked members of our Scientific Program Committee taking a well deserved rest period during their recent meeting in New York. From left to right: Herwig Kollaritsch Austria; Kevin Kain, Canada: Hans Dieter Nothdurft, Germany; David Freedman, USA; and Brad Connor, USA. Brad is the Organizing Chair for CISTM8.

But now, just eight months later, here we are. Look around this room. And while I certainly cannot speak for the terrorists, I am reasonably sure that they are not happy with this meeting. Each and everyone one of you in attendance in this magnificent room, are proof that the terrorist's philosophy of hate and destruction will not prevail.

People are traveling again. In the U.S, air traffic is more than 90% of what it was before September 11, and steadily increasing. And people in travel medicine have become optimistic again, realizing that excessive dwelling on negative events of the past drains the emotions and weakens the energy that we need to look forward and work to improve the future.

People are traveling again in spite of the delays and other inconveniences caused by tighter security.

People are traveling again because they realize that travel has much in common with hope. Both involve optimism, enthusiasm, and fulfillment. Most people travel for positive reasons - curiosity, education, fun, health, business, to improve their socioeconomic status - or, because they are running for their lives. Only a handful travel to spread death and destruction.

Travel is a prescription for hope. Organizations such as ours can make a difference. Meetings such as this reinforce our commitment. Look at our program: we concern ourselves with the entire family of travelers - from the rich tourists to the people running for their lives.

Travel has returned, and more rapidly than many of us anticipated. The tremendous downturn in travel that we witnessed after September 11^th was a reflex reaction to an incalculable calamity - fear that such events may recur, disillusionment with humanity that fellow man is able to perform such acts, and guilt about going about our business and pleasures at a time when many are grieving. As travel health professionals we should help counteract the psychological trauma of September 11^th, as we do for fear of flying, for example. We need to reassure the public that hysteria is not the solution to disaster, that travel is quite safe, and that travel is important for our own well being, and for the well being for people everywhere.

The Twin Towers are gone. The new symbol for next year's ISTM meeting in New York is the Statue of Liberty. Our opening ceremony will be held on Ellis Island, also in New York Harbor, and close by to the Statue. Ellis Island is where 19 million immigrants first reached America, perhaps the larges migration in history. There is now a museum there devoted to immigration. Our opening ceremony will be held in that museum.

The Statue was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States. At the base of the statue is an inscription that reflects the spirit of Ellis Island, and, hopefully, some day in a more perfect world will serve as the credo of travel medicine...

Thank you. And I’ll see you in New York next year.