NECTM 2006 - Edinburgh, Scotland. June 7-10 2006
Speakers
Mrs Lorna Boyne, United Kingdom
What is the role of Formal Travel Medicine Education
I am employed as a Lead in Travel Medicine Education and Standards at Health Protection Scotland (HPS). My main remit is to act as Course Covenor for the Diploma and Foundation courses in Travel Medicine at HPS and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Glasgow (RCPSG). I have been involved in Travel Medicine education for more than 10 years, including the inception of the Diploma in Travel Medicine (originally through the University of Glasgow).
Other key roles include consultation at the Brownlee Centre specialist referral travel clinic, provision of advice to health care professionals on the HPS travel health help-line, and contributing to the online databases TRAVAX and Fitfortravel. I am a member of the Royal College of Nurses Travel Health Forum Committee and in this capacity I recently helped to produce a Guidance document for nurses providing travel health services in the UK.
I am currently involved in setting up the Faculty of Travel Medicine through the RCPSG. I regularly write for popular UK nursing journals and have co-authored 4 textbooks on Travel Medicine.
Dr Mads R. Buhl, Denmark
Advising Travellers with Cardiac and Respiratory Diseases
Dr. Mads R. Buhl: Specialist in Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, D.T.M&H. Liv.. Dr. Med. (MD). Chairman of The Danish Society of Travel Medicine, Member of the editorial Board, J. Travel Medicine. Presently Senior Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Skejby Hospital, University Hospital of AArhus. A. Prof, Medical Faculty, University of Aarhus. Worked for many years in Africa and the Middle East ( SQU, Muscat). Editor, Travel Medicine Manual.
Professor Eric Caumes, France
New Challenges for Travellers to Sub-Saharan Africa
Dermatologist (1989), Infectious and Tropical Diseases Specialist (1986).
Vice Chairman of the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Hopital Pitié Salpetrière, Paris, France (2001).
President of The French Society of Travel Medecine (2002).
Worked in Kathmandu, Nepal (1983-1985).
Publications include 162 articles (PubMed, 11/30/2005) in the international medical press, books and pocket guide for travellers.
Field of competence: infectious and tropical diseases, dermatology, sexually transmitted diseases, travel medicine.
Editor in chief of La lettre de l’infectiologue (2000).
Associate editor of the Journal of Travel Medecine (2003).
Mrs Jane Chiodini, United Kingdom
Who should pay for travel vaccinations?
Jane has been running travel clinics a primary care setting since 1990 and in 1998 graduated with an MSc (travel medicine) from the University of Glasgow. Jane is Chair of the Royal College of Nursing Travel Health Forum, Honorary Lecturer in Travel Medicine, Academic Centre for Travel Medicine & Vaccines at the Royal Free & University College Medical School and an Associate Yellow Fever Trainer for the National Travel Health Network and Centre. Jane is also involved within the International Society of Travel Medicine on the publications committee and Co Chair of the Practice and Nursing Issues Committee. Co-author of ‘The Atlas of Travel Medicine and Health’, she has a particular specialist interest in running a travel clinic, patient group directions, risk assessment and malaria prevention.
Director a training company, Jane is passionate about teaching and supporting nurses in the field of travel health and has had articles published on many topics including the issue of charging for travel vaccinations and services. She continues to have hands on experience in primary care, taking the lead for a travel clinic and childhood immunisations in her surgery in Bedford.
Dr Eilif Dahl, Norway
Modern Day Hazards from the Marine Environment
M.D., M.H.A., Ph.D.: Former professor of general and trauma surgery at the University of Oslo, Norway. Presently senior surgical consultant at the National University Hospital in Oslo, and also part-time medical cruise consultant for cruise companies (staffing; infirmary layout, design and equipment). Cruise ship surgeon for a few months a year since 1971.
Associate Professor Karl Ekdahl, Sweden
The Role of the New European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Strategic Advisor to the Director and Coordinator of the Director’s Cabinet, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Dr Karl Ekdahl, from Sweden, obtained his Medical Degree from the University of Lund in Southern Sweden in 1986. He has a PhD in Infectious Diseases at the same University, a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from Prince Mahidol University, Bankok, Thailand and a Master’s Degree in Epidemiology from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In 1999 he became Associate Professor in Infectious Disease Epidemiology, at Karolinska Institute, Stockholm. In his academic career, he has authored more than 60 articles in international scientific journals, one book and tutored 8 PhD students. His main research interests included antimicrobial resistance, travel-related infections and surveillance.
After some years as an infectious disease specialist, Dr Ekdahl entered the area of communicable disease prevention and control in 1995. Since then, he has worked at regional, national and international level and between 2001 and 2005 held the position as Deputy State Epidemiologist for Sweden. He has participated in many international networks, an HIV surveillance project in China and been responsible for Swedish cooperation with Russia and the Baltic Republics on Communicable disease control in 1998 to 2001.
Since July 2005, Dr Ekdahl is part of the Executive Management Team of the new European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in Stockholm, where he was the first expert in place in March the same year.
Dr Luanne Freer, USA
Health Risk from Exposure to Animals
Dr. Luanne Freer is a board certified emergency physician who practices in her hometown, Bozeman, Montana. Since 1992, she has worked as the medical director for Yellowstone National Park, where she trains park rangers and manages the 3 park medical clinics. She is the current president of the Wilderness Medical Society and sits on the medical advisory boards of Wilderness Medicine Institute, National Park Service, and National Ski Patrol. In 2003, Dr. Freer founded the Everest Base Camp Medical Clinic for the Himalayan Rescue Association, and continues to direct and staff the nonprofit clinic every spring.
Dr E. A. Gallagher, Ireland
The “Last Minute” Traveller Seeking Advice
Dr. Nancy Gallagher MB FFA RCSI DTM; a graduate of University College Dublin, has been practising travel medicine for the past twenty years. She is currently Medical Director of the Travel Health Centre and Lecturer in International Health and Tropical Medicine in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Apart from practising travel medicine at a busy city practice, the Department runs both undergraduate and post-graduate courses in Tropical Medicine and more recently a Certificate in Travel Health. She has been a member of both the International and Irish Societies of Travel Medicine since their inception and is currently President of the Irish Society of Travel Medicine for a second term.
Ms Sheila Hall, United Kingdom
Respect for New Environment and Local Culture
Sheila has been nursing for over 20 years, gaining broad experience both in the UK and many years working abroad. She spent nine years as a practice nurse in Glasgow, and during that time was able to combine her interest and experience in travel with the developing area of travel medicine. The practical experience gained while providing travel-health advice in the primary care setting was further supplemented in 1998, with the successful completion of the MSc degree in travel medicine at Glasgow University.
Having decided to work full time in the field of travel-health, she is now involved in many ventures as an Independent Travel Health Advisor. She established her own company TREC (Travel-health Related Education & Care in September 1999 and organises short courses and travel medicine updates for nurses and GPs throughout the UK and Eire.
Professor David Hill, United Kingdom
New Opportunities to Prevent Respiratory Tract Infection in Travellers
Prof. Hill is director of the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC), London and Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. NaTHNaC was established in 2002 with the goal of “Protecting the health of British travellers” by helping to set standards in travel medicine.
Prior to directing NaTHNaC, Prof. Hill was at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, USA, where he was consultant in Infectious diseases and founder and Director of the International Traveller’s Medical Service. At Connecticut he chaired the medical school’s basic science course in infectious disease and was honoured several years with teaching awards. His research interests have been in the fields of giardiasis and travel medicine and he is extensively published in both areas. He is co-editor of a new book on travel and tropical medicine and chairs the Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines panel on travel medicine. Prof. Hill recently served as President of the American Committee on Clinical Tropical Medicine and Traveller’s Health that is devoted to education and clinical care in the fields of tropical and travel medicine.
Dr Mike Jones, United Kingdom
The Traveller with Allergies Requiring Vaccinations
Dr Mike Jones is Consultant Physician at the Regional Infectious Diseases Unit, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh where he has a particular interest in Tropcal Medicine and HIV Management and provides pre and post-travel clinic services, setting up the pre-travel clinic in 1993. With others he founded the medical charity Care for Mission in 1983 and this medical charity sponsors the work of Edinburgh International Health Centre (EIHC), for which he is Honorary Consultant Physician and Medical Director. EIHC’s core work is providing whole person health care for expatriates working in developing countries with voluntary agencies but also from 2003 a public access Travel Clinic. Total EIHC referrals in all categories are 600 annually.
He qualified at Aberdeen University in 1972, was an ODA funded General Physican at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre from 1976-1982 at which Tanzania’s second medical school is now located. He was Editor of Tropical Doctor,published by the Royal Society of Medicine from 1995-2002, a tutor for the Glasgow Diploma in Travel Medicine from 1996-9, wrote and with Dr Debbie Lovell-Hawker recently revised the module on Protracted Visits and gives about a dozen lectures each year on various aspects of Travel and Tropical Medicine, and HIV management. He is a member/fellow of British HIV Association, British Infection Society, British Travel Health Association, Royal Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the International Society for Travel Medicine. Publications include a chapter on Psychological aspects of Travel and the long term expatriate in the textbook Travel Medicine and Migrant Health.
He currently serves on the Advisory Panel for the Scottish Travax service, a Travel Health Advisory Board for Sanofi Pasteur MSD and the International Health Advisory Committee of SIM International which meets annually in North Carolina. He is Medical Officer for the World Mission Council of the Church of Scotland and Scottish Churches World Exchange. He returns to the developing world whenever he can and visited Zambia twice recently as the RIDU nominated physician to the Lothian-Zambia HIV/AIDS partnership.
Dr Sverre KjØlstad, Norway
The Importance of Travel Health Insurance
Medical School, Oslo 1978. Specialist in Occupational health since 1992. General practice until 1983, and then Occupational Medicine 1997. Consulting doctor for a travel insurance company since 1992. Full time Medical Director of the same company since 1997, with responsibility for quality assessment of medical providers worldwide and repatriation. Leader of the Norwegian Forum for Travel Medicine since 2004.
Sari Kovats, United Kingdom
Climate Change and Human Health – Early and Late Effects
Sari Kovats is a Lecturer in Environmental Epidemiology and is an expert on the assessment of the current and potential impacts of climate on human population health. She was the LSHTM partner in the EU-funded CCASSH project on developing adaptation strategies to reduce the health the impacts of climate change in Europe, and in the forthcoming EUROHEAT projected, funded by DG SANCO on preventing the health impacts of weather extremes. Sari been an expert advisor since 1996 on climate variability, climate change and health for WHO Geneva, and the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health (Rome). She is also a member of the WMO-Commission on Climatology Expert Team 3.8 on Health-related Climate Indices and their Use in Early Warning Systems, and was a member of the Technical Working Group on Research Needs for the EC Environment and Health Strategy in 2003/4. Sari is currently a Lead Author in Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and has worked extensively on previous assessments for the IPCC.
Professor Lars Lindquist, Sweden
Tick Borne Infections in Europe
Lars Lindquist is professor in infectious diseases with research interest in tick borne infections, with special reference to tick borne encephalitis, both in the Nordic and the Baltic countries. He has in his work both dealt with the epidemiology of tick born infections as well as treatment, prophylaxis and long-term outcome of disease.
Dr Iain McIntosh, Scotland
Health Risks for Those Going on Sea Cruises
Chairman of the British Travel Health Association. Sessional GP, ship and expedition doctor and in-flight physician. Author of 4 books, several chapters and many articles on travel medicine. Editor of BTHA journal and former editor of Travel Medicine International. Lecturer/examiner in travel related health. Research publications; Travel Stress and Phobias.
Professor Victor Maleyev, Russia
Emerging and Re-emerging Infections in Russia and the Baltic States
Professor, Ph.D, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Full Member of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Deputy Director of Central Research Institute of Epidemiology
Graduated - Andigan Medical Institute in Uzbekistan in 1964.
Professional Experience – Practical and scientific work during outbreaks of infectious Diseases and Emerging Diseases in many places of USSR, Russia, of NIS and other countries of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Consultant activities during outbreaks of plaque in Vietnam, India (1994), Mongolia, typhoid fever in Tadjikistan, cholera in Somalia, Peru, Iraq (1999), vitamin deficiency in Cuba, SARS in China and Avian flu in Vietnam.
Areas of scientific exploration - clinical physiology, molecular and gene diagnostic, case management and control of communicable diseases.
Publications - more than 250.
Dr Francois-Xavier Meslin, Switzerland
Rabies Vaccination for Travellers
Dr F.-X. Meslin is presently responsible for zoonoses and veterinary public health within the Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases, based in Geneva, Switzerland. His functions included providing technical advice on the surveillance, prevention and control of new, emerging zoonotic diseases as well as those endemic zoonoses affecting poor populations of the developing world in Africa and Asia. He is first editor of the second edition of Laboratory Techniques in Rabies published by WHO in 1992, and was the convenor of both the 8th Expert Committee on Rabies (Geneva, 1991) and the 1st WHO Expert Consultation on Rabies (Geneva, 2004). He has recently authored or co-authored published articles on travellers and rabies as well as the reassessment of the burden of Rabies in Africa and Asia.
Dr Eric Noji, USA
Preparations for Responding to Natural Disaster
Dr. Eric K. Noji is a CDC physician serving as Senior Policy Advisor to the Director in Washington, D.C. Since 2002, he has been responsible for working with Congress, the White House and other Executive Branch agencies on issues related to international disaster aid. During the Spring and Summer of 2003, Dr. Noji served as Deputy Medical Director of the Humanitarian Assistance Mission responsible for the rapid determination of the medical and health needs of the Iraqi civilian population.
During his 18 year career at the CDC, he has had extensive domestic and international experience in responding to natural and technological disasters, terrorism, violent civil conflict, wars and other humanitarian crises. From 1996-2000 CDC seconded Noji to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland as Director of Global Health Intelligence for Emergencies responsible for assessing the needs of and monitoring the health of refugees, forcibly displaced, and war-affected populations around the world (including early warning of epidemics of catastrophic life-threatening potential).
Dr. Noji is the author or co-author of over 200 scientific articles and publications on disaster medicine, disaster epidemiology, and the medical response to terrorism, refugees and complex humanitarian emergencies including the most widely used educational textbook on these topics, The Public Health Consequences of Disasters (Oxford University Press). The Eric K. Noji Excellence Award is awarded annually by the Center of Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance to recognize exceptional teaching and educational achievements in emergency management, disaster response and peacekeeping through education, training, research and information programs.
Dr. Noji was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in October, 2005.
Professor Heikki Peltola, Finland
Deadly Stowaways Over the Centuries
Heikki Peltola is a qualified paediatrician, paediatric infectious disease specialist and general surgeon. Currently, he is the Professor of Infectious Diseases of the University of Helsinki, and Head of Infectious Diseases at the Hospital for Children and Adolescents. The main research areas have compromised the treatment and phrophylaxis of severe bacterial and viral infections, meningitis, pneumonia, osteoarticular infections, measles, mumps and rubella being perhaps the first to be named. The total number of scientific papers exceed 250, most in peer-reviewed US and European journals. Research activities have brought Heikki Peltola to several countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia. Currently he is conducting a large treatment study on bacterial meningitis in Angola, the approach being to improve the prognosis with means available also for the poors. Heikki Peltola has been invited to more than 100 countries to give lectures or to participate in other academic activities. Music is Heikki Peltola’s great love and he has concertized with various singing groups in three continents.
Dr Prativa Pandey, Nepal
New Challenges for Travellers to Asia
Prativa Pandey, the current president of the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) is the medical director of the CIWEC Clinic Travel Medicine Center located in Kathmandu, Nepal. The clinic is known for clinical excellence and serves as one of the surveillance sites of the GeoSentinel project of the ISTM. Dr. Pandey specializes in health problems of travelers and expatriates and has published several research papers on the subject.
Dr Mark Popplestone, UK
Staying Healthy During and After Air Travel
Dr Mark Popplestone joined British Airways as a Consultant Occupational Physician in 1998 but rapidly developed an interest in passenger health issues. He played a key role in the original development and recent revision of the health section of the British Airways website, which provides information and advice to passengers and their doctors on the medical aspects of travel.
Professor Lars Rombo, Sweden
The Traveller and Risk Assessment
Lars Rombo is Professor at the Karolinska institute and Head of a department of infectious diseases in the Stockholm area. His main interest is focused on antimalarial drugs and risk assessment of malaria phrophylaxis and other interventions during travel.
Dr Patricia Schlagenhauf-Lawlor, Switzerland
All or Nothing – Malaria Prevention for the Minimal Risk Traveller
Patricia Schlagenhauf-Lawlor, BSc (Pharm), MPSI, PhD, PD
Patricia Schlagenhauf-Lawlor is a lecturer and scientist at the University of Zuerich, Switzerland.
Born in Ireland, she studied science and pharmacy at Trinity College, Dublin. After moving to Switzerland she received her PhD from the Universities of Zuerich and Basel for her research on the pharmacology of antimalarial drugs. In her position as Research Scientist at the University of Zuerich Center for Travel Medicine, she has conducted many studies on the use and tolerability of anti-malarial drugs in travellers and airline crews. Her research focuses on formulating practical ant-malaria strategies for travellers including the evaluation of chemoprophylaxis and the emergency self-treatment approach and the use of malaria rapid dip-stick tests. Other studies have scutinised the epidemiology of imported malaria in non-endemic countries to identify risk groups and to formulate evidence-based approaches to the prevention of malaria in travellers. In 2004 she received her "Habilitation", (PD) (equivalent to US associate professor) from the Univeristy of Zurich. Dr. Schlagenhauf-Lawlor serves as temporary advisor on malaria issues to the WHO. She is editor of the book "Travelers' Malaria" (BC Decker 2001) and author of the handbook "PDQ handbook of Travelers' Malaria" (BC Decker 2005) and has published more than 50 papers on travel medicine, in particular, original research on malaria in travellers and presents on this theme at international conferences.
Since 2001, she has an additional part-time, executive position as European Senior Editor of "The Lancet" and serves as Section Editor for the Journal of Travel Medicine. She is the founder of the ISTM Research Committee, a group aiming to increase research in travel medicine. She acts as facilitator for further education courses on travel medicine in Switzerland and Denmark and was "visiting lecturer" during November and December 2005 at Trinity College, Dublin.
Dr Evelyn Sharpe, United Kingdom
Psychosocial Problems that Emergency Volunteers May Experience
Evelyn Sharpe is a Consultant Psychiatrist in the NHS and at INTERHEALTH, a medical charity providing health services to the aid, development, mission and NGO sectors. Her work involves pre-assignment screening and preparation as well as care for those returning, sometimes from very troubled areas or after traumatic events.
Professor Robert Steffen, Switzerland
The Role of Vaccines in Preventing Gastro-intestinal Infections
Robert Steffen is Professor of Travel Medicine at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. There he is the Head of the Division of Epidemiology and Prevention of Communicable Diseases and he is also Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Traveller's Health. He also is a regular consultant to WHO on questions relating to emerging infections and bioterrorism. He is chairman of the Swiss Influenza Pandemic Planning Committee and co-chair of the Swiss committees on immunization and on bioterrorism.
He was born and raised in Zurich, where he attended Medical School. He first became a flight surgeon with the Swiss Air Force, where he initiated helicopter air rescue. He then trained in various subspecialities of internal medicine, tropical medicine and epidemiology in teaching institutions in Nairobi, Soweto/ Johannesburg, Sydney, Chicago, San Francisco and London. He organised the First International Conference on Travel Medicine in 1988, and he was a co-founder and President of the International Society of Travel Medicine. He has published over 300 articles and several textbooks in that field and on other topics relating to the prevention of communicable diseases.
Dr Øystein Søbstad, Norway
Giardiasis in Scandinavia and the Baltic States
Graduated 1981, University of Bergen. Specialist in Family medicine from 1989, community medicine from 1994. Worked as a GP until 1994 when I started as a public health medical officer. Switched to Infection Control in 1998. I am responsible for the city’s Infection Control Program. Bergen is the second biggest town in Norway and has the 3rd biggest port for cruise liners in Europe. There have been a steadily increasing incidences of outbreaks during the last five years and in the autumn 2004 Bergen had its first outbreak of giardiasis in modern times. More than 1300 sick were registered.
Mrs Margaret Umeed, United Kingdom
The Role of the Nurse in Prescribing Vaccinations and Malaria Prophylaxis
I trained as a nurse 1984-87 and worked in the local Infectious Disease Unit before travelling to Pakistan where I worked as a nurse for 18 months. I “fell into” General Practice (Family Practice) in May 1990 and have worked almost full-time ever since. I presently work full-time in a socio-economically deprived area of Glasgow and have been there since 1997. I am a Specialist Nurse Practitioner, a Nurse Prescriber (extended & supplementary) and am presently undertaking the Practice Educator PgC at Glasgow’s Caledonian University. I qualified with the MSc. (Trav. Med.) from Glasgow University in 2001 and have been involved in teaching since 1999. I am currently involved with both the Foundation and Diploma Travel Health courses organised by HPS and supported by the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons in Glasgow, and also with Sheila Hall who runs TREC travel courses around the UK and Eire.
Dr Graeme Walker, Scotland
Health Considerations for Adventure Travel
Graeme Walker is currently a GP Registrar in Nairn, in the north of Scotland. He has extensive travel and expedition experience on six continents, and as a "holiday job" he leads youth development expeditions for World Challenge Expeditions Ltd. He organized a successful national conference on wilderness medicine whilst a medical student and is now on the host organizing committee for the World Congress on Mountain and Wilderness Medicine that is being planned in Scotland for the autumn of 2007. He is an active member of Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team, which covers the second biggest land area of any mountain rescue team in the UK. He completed a post-graduate Diploma in Travel Medicine in 2005. Outside his medical and adventure-travel interests, he enjoys playing Scottish traditional music on fiddle and cello.
Dr Jame Willis, United Kingdom
Climate Change and its Implications for Travel
James Willis has had a career as a passionately committed GP during which he saw the changes wrought by information technology and managerialism in the National Health Service at first hand. Determined that such technical innovations should be used to serve humanity rather than the other way round, he wrote his book ‘The Paradox of Progress’. This book was received, and continues to be received, with great enthusiasm by people working in every walk of life.
Following its publication he became a prolific columnist and commentator in medical journals, a role which he has continued and expanded since retirement from medical practice. His second book, ‘Friends in Low Places’, explored the hidden differences in perspective between people working on the front line of life and those working in ‘high places’. He shows that, contrary to popular assumption, the former viewpoint is often the more valid.
He was a founder member of the Doctors and Overpopulation Group in the early 1970s and has been concerned about Environmental issues throughout his life.
His website, containing details of the books and the text of several of his influential lectures, including, ‘The Sea Monster and the Whirlpool’, on Science for the 50th Anniversary Symposium of the Royal College of General Practitioners, is at www.friendsinlowplaces.co.uk