Acta Tropica is an international, peer-reviewed journal advancing scientific research in the fields of tropical medicine and parasitology. This article elucidates the rich history of the journal and speculates about its future. Acta Tropica was launched in 1944 and formed an integral part of the establishment and running of the Swiss Tropical Institute in Basel.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn order to be successful in global health today, all the long-established European tropical research institutes had to undergo a transition which can be described as "hunter-gatherer" and descriptive approaches during colonial and postcolonial times to a deeper understanding of infection biology and finally to public health interventions from which populations at large can benefit. During the 1980s and 1990s, the Swiss Tropical Institute (today: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Swiss TPH) based in Basel too has changed its focus from individual medicine to a public health context. This article does not present new scientific data but takes a historical perspective.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCompared internationally, the history of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) is unusual. Founded in 1944, at a time of utmost isolation, it was a response to specific needs of the government of Switzerland during the Second World War. In 1943, the Swiss Federal Council approached universities in Switzerland and asked them to submit project proposal that had the potential to mitigate possible post-war unemployment and threatening economic isolation.
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