SUMMARY REPORT

After 50 Tropical medicine excursions for healthcare professionals to Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ghana (1995 – 2016)

KAY SCHAEFER, MD, PhD, MSc, DTM&H

Consultant in Tropical Medicine & Travellers’ Health,
TROPMEDEX, Cologne, Germany

INTRODUCTION

Due to growing tourism more travellers return with tropical diseases. The continuous stream of asylum seekers to the developed world presents healthcare professionals with tropi­cal infections, which they have not seen before. Global warming has contributed to the emergence of autochthonous malaria and
Dengue fever cases in temperate climate zones. These develop­ments underline the fact that healthcare professionals in the de­veloped world require more hands on experience in clinical Tropi­cal Medicine and Travellers’ Health. The author has supervised 50 excursions in Africa and summarizes his experience over 22 years.

DESIGN

During the round trip excursions by 4×4 drive, bus and plane (lasting 11–13 days and covering on average 1500 km per excursion) the participants visit teaching hospitals and healthcare projects in various countries in Africa. Through a combination of bedside teaching sessions, case presentations, laboratory sessions and lectures (in English), the most important tropical infectious diseases are covered in the endemic areas. In addition the partici­pants get an insight into the healthcare system and explore during medical field excursions the fantastic scenery and prolific flora and fauna of Africa. The excursions are accredited with 60 CME hours by the Medical Association in Düsseldorf, Germany.

RESULTS

Of 50 excursions, 20 took place in Uganda, 18 in Kenya, 8 in Tanzania and 4 in Ghana. A total of 513 healthcare profession­als have been trained with an average of 10 participants per excursion. Among them were 262 women and 251 men. The average age was 49 years. Of the participants, 278 came from Europe, 112 from USA/Canada, 60 from Australia/NZ, 47 from Asia and 16 from Africa. Their specialized fields were as follows: 158 general practitioners, 106 physicians, 73 ID specialists, 37 gastroenterologists, 28 public health experts, 24 microbiologists, 23 occupational health experts, 20 dermatologists, 18 nurse practitioners and others. TROPMEDEX has never had any accidents or serious infections among partici­pants during their excursions. The participants were accommo­dated in quality hotels and travelled with experienced drivers and reliable airlines.

DISCUSSION

Most of the participants have come from Europe and the USA/Canada, which correlates with the large number of tourists from those regions who have travelled to the tropics over the last two decades. However, in recent years more doctors from the Asia/Pacific region have opted to be trained as well, reflecting the increasing trend of the burgeoning tourist industry in those regions to tropical destinations. The main target group was the middle aged general practitioner working in medical practice. They had limited experience in Tropical Medicine and Travellers’ Health but were increasingly faced with post-travel examination of pa­tients returning from the tropics.

FORTHCOMING TROPMEDEX DATES

Ghana 30th November – 10th December 2016
Tanzania 5th February – 17th February 2017
Uganda 19th March – 31st March 2017
Ghana 29th November – 9th December 2017