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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Sir:

In response to the Letter to the Editor by Meshnick in the May 2003 issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,¹ I would like to propose that the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) keep its name. Hygiene, in its public health meaning, is an interdisciplinary approach that aims at reducing morbidity and mortality by recognition and characterization, control, and prevention of public health problems. In tropical hygiene, this is achieved by the cooperation of experts from many fields: medicine, parasitology, entomology, epidemiology, social sciences, etc. The composition of the membership of ASTMH reflects the diverse community and approach needed to address the problems facing many tropical, and other, countries. The notion "Global Health" may be catchier, but is also less specific (and less programmatic). Isn’t working on recognition and characterization, prevention, and control of public health problems on an individual or population basis what many of us do on a daily basis and reflected by many of the papers published in our journal?

For those of us who attend "academic cocktail parties," it may be worthwhile to explain to those who are interested the meaning of tropical hygiene instead of just using the trendy phrase "Global Health," which may be associated with different, more diffuse concepts, and the paradigm shift from the (short-lived) feeling of omnipotence regarding the threat of infectious diseases (after, e.g., the development of antimicrobials and modern vaccines and the eradication of smallpox) to the re-discovery of hygiene and other public health principles.

I also want to comment on the second issue raised, i.e., (re-) naming schools of public health, other institutions, or our society using donor names. In former times, institutions often were named after sovereigns, saints, or scientists. Whereas all these were meant to honor specific persons or groups (and sometimes persons also honored themselves), they also reflected the social conditions or beliefs of the respective societies. Shouldn’t we as scientists go beyond this long human tradition of vain attempts for immortality, and worshiping secular, religious, scientific, or economic "bodies?" How many "Enlightenments" do we need? Of course, there are already institutions whose names are purely descriptive and programmatic, e.g., ASTMH . . .

I agree with Dr. Meshnick that we need to think carefully about what is in a name. It is important to know and take into account if the meaning of a word differs between our scientific and other scientific or non-scientific communities. And obviously, we need to agree among ourselves what we mean when we use a certain word. If we do not agree, we should start with discussing and defining what "Hygiene" stands for in the name of our society. At the end, we then still can decide if hygiene is the best or whether there is a better word for it.

1. Meshnick SR, 2003. Letter to the editor. Am J Trop Med Hyg 68: 507.[Free Full Text]

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