Department of - Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde

Foreword from the Chairman
By the time this report is published I will have retired as
Governor of the Province of Antwerp and as Chairman
of the ITM. In both functions I have had the privilege
to witness tremendous changes in the province, as
well as at the ITM. The turn of the millennium, precisely
halfway my term of office was not just a symbolic date.
We are indeed living in a new era of rapid globalisation,
increased mobility and stunning technological advances.
As Governor of the Province of Antwerp I have had to
deal with several issues, many of which were directly
related to these enormous changes in our society.
And as Chairman of the ITM as well, I have seen a lot of
evolutions over the past fifteen years. Many developing
countries have attempted to bridge the gap towards the
wealth we are so used to in the western world and some
have succeeded even at a breathtaking pace. But not
all have been successful and in far too many countries
the slow progress towards the millennium development
goals and particularly the universal right to health and
health care, remains a disgrace to the global community.
One of the best, lasting contributions we can make to
end this, is to invest in education, research and capacity
strengthening. And I am proud to say that such is
precisely what the ITM has done. With its well-designed,
high-quality programmes in each of these fields, this
institute has grown into one of the world’s major
players in this respect. It has been a privilege to help
making this happen, together with the board members,
the management and all of the ITM staff. I would like
to thank them all most heartily for their dedication,
professionalism and friendship and I wish them all the
best for the future.
Camille Paulus
Honorary Governor of the Province of Antwerp
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