RSTMH online – Presidential Address by Professor David Mabey and our mid-term strategy review
On 26 May 2020 we welcomed over 160 guests to our online event to hear our Presidential Address and give an update on our five-year strategy, launched in 2017.
Professor David Mabey’s Presidential Address
How many NTDs can we eliminate by 2030
In his Presidential Address, Professor Mabey provided an overview of the 2012 WHO Roadmap on NTDs targeted for elimination or eradication and the progress made since 2012. He introduced the roadmap for 2030 that WHO have been working on for the past 2 years in consultation with the wider NTD community, and discussed the challenges that need to be overcome to achieve the goals of Guinea Worm and Yaws eradication, and the elimination of Trachoma as a Public Health Problem.
RSTMH mid-term strategy review by CEO Tamar Ghosh
It is the mid-point in our ambitious strategy with our revised vision to save lives and improve health around the world, within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. The strategy described three broad priorities to focus our attention:
Creating strong foundations through our team, governance, improved systems and a sustainable financial position.
Over the last two years we have restructured our team, improved our governance by creating new Committees and introduced the Country Ambassador and Early Careers Trustee roles. We updated our IT, phone and office systems to be more accessible, and launched our more efficient website and database. We have made steps to be more cost effective and continue to work on ensuring our income covers our costs without utilising our savings. In the coming months you will notice new ways through which to support RSTMH, and new income generating activities.
Improving our relationship with our members, partners, and networks.
We have developed more tailored communications for our members, have held more international events, and introduced an Early Careers Membership. We have strengthened our existing partnerships with academia, funders, NGOs and industry, initiating for example the Hemingway Award with LSTM. We have joined many networks including the UK Coalition on NTDs, the Snakebite Funders Group and the Federation of European Societies for Tropical Medicine and International health. Our engagement with new communities has begun with nursing networks and we plan to expand this and all relationships during the second half of the strategy.
Delivering impact for members, RSTMH and the global health community.
Over the last two years we have seen a growth in applications for our Small Grants of almost 400%. This year with support from DHSC, NIHR, Wellcome Trust and ITI we hope to award three times as many awards as in 2019. We have introduced mentorship opportunities at our events, re-positioned travel scholarships, introduced a Student Essay Competition and started the role of Student Ambassador.
We launched the International Snakebite Awareness Day (ISBAD) on 18 September, to raise the profile of snakebite in the international arena. This year we are working with the World Health Organisation to show our support for ending NTDs through our new blog series, Ending NTDs: Together Towards 2030, and a special issue of our journal Transaction.
In 2019 we organised the 11th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health. The event was a huge success that helped raise our profile and established RSTMH as being in a strong position to achieve more positive change in the future.