SELECTED STUDIES
Global Academy of Tropical Health
(GATH)
By Prof. Refaat Kamel, MD, FICS
The textbook of Tropical Surgery and the Global Academy of Tropical Surgery were launched in March 2004 in the premises of the WHO-Cairo.
Based on the consensus of opinion of all attendants, the name was changed to Global Academy of Tropical Health and Cultural Development (GATH), so that it will embrace all who are interested in health care, its development and cultural heritage. Going to the GATH-International, we have a group for Europe called GATH-Europe led by the Germans (Prof. Domres and Prof. Schneider), and we have an Egyptian group (GATH-Egypt) composed of about 150 of eminent health workers and allied sciences.
The motto of GATH- International is to attain a respectful life for every body, Respect for people without discrimination, Curiosity for what will help man to develop, to combat poverty, ignorance and sickness, and we need active participants, not passive ones, nor listeners.
The main goals of the Academy are to make Tropical Health an integral part of the medical curriculum through provisions of
- Low cost Surgery and medical practice without encroaching on health care privileges.
- Surgery of HIV and high risk diseases like hepatitis and new emerging diseases.
- Prevention, precautions and medical ethics.
- Management of disasters whether man-made or natural
- We aim at having licenses and degrees after full evaluation and assessment.
- E-learning and Open University.
- The main objectives are Teaching, Research, training, practice and Developing Centers of Excellence.
- Data Bank for all Societies having the same interest.
- Time Schedule for steps
- Promote Science and art of Tropical Health.
- Provide informed leadership and art of debate.
- Achieve the highest level of Ethical medical levels (i.e. GCP)
Other groups are under formation in different countries. GATH is working in many subspecialties and would like to mention some of them:
These are the 32 study groups under GATH-International:
1- Paleopathology and Anthropology
2- Man-made and Natural disasters including Traffic Accidents
3- Tropical Paediatrics
4- Cultural development and Heritage
5- Tropical Diseases and Tropical Infections
6- Tropical Surgery
7- Tropical Hepatology and Gastroenterology (including biliopancreatic diseases)
8- Leadership and Debate
9- Tropical Chest Diseases
10- Maternal and Infant Mortality and Morbidity
11- Alternative Medicine
12- Urology
13- Medical Economics and Pharmaceuticals
14- Tropical Neurology
15- Global warming and Environment
16- Low cost
17- Tropical Vascular diseases
18- Tropical Cardiology
19- Tropical Oncology
20- Medical Ethics
21- Phytochemistry and Herbology
22- Nutrition and Obesity
23- Transplantation in developing world
24- Imaging in developing and developed world
25- Advanced Technology including Nanotechnology
26- Health promotion.
27- Surgery in Austere conditions
28- Transport and pre-hospital management
29- Gynaecology and Obstetrics
30- Tropical orthopaedics
31- Tropical ophthalmology
32- Tropical Haematology
GATH-International Board
Chairman: Refaat Kamel (Egypt)
Honorary Chairmen: Bernd Domres (Germany), Fidel R. Healy (Mexico), Ibrahim Badran (Egypt), John Lumley (UK), Mahmoud Mahfouz (Egypt) ,Raphael Kalengayi (Congo) ,S. William Gunn (Canada)
Secretary General: B. Michael Schneider (Germany)
Inaugural Congress on Tropical Health and Culture in Cairo
Eighty years after the big Congress which was held in Cairo entitled “CONGRES INTERNATIONAL DE MEDECINE TROPICALE ET D’HYGIENE – Le Caire, Decembre 1928. Sous Le HAUT PATRONAGE DE SA MAJESTE LE ROI FOUAD I, Organized by Late Professor Mohamed Bey Khalil Abdel- Khalek, Egypt will once again host a major conference next year. GATH's First Global Congress on Tropical Health and Culture will be held between 21 and 25 of November, 2008 in Cairo and Sakkara
The proceedings of the congress will ultimately appear as an encyclopaedia of tropical health and cultural development.
The website is available at (www.tropical-surgery.net).
Hand in Hand towards better health for all people around the World
Prof. Refaat Kamel is the Chairman of the GATH Conference and can be reached at rkamel2000@hotmail.com or gathcairo2008@yahoo.com
