DEV News

A new publication from the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT)

The Executive Agency for Health and Consumers has contracted the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) as the leading agency of a consortium, together with AIDS Foundation East West (AFEW) and the Eurasian harm Reduction Network (EHRN).

Health systems are not delivering indigenous peoples the care and support services they need. They are often the most disadvantaged and marginalized in any country, with low standards of health. Almost a third of the world’s ‘bottom billion’ poorest people are indigenous peoples and among those the majority live in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The World Health Champion Game tests general knowledge of public and international health. It has been developed in KIT's training courses to raise awareness and exchange knowledge about public health issues in developing countries.

The Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) is guest editor for a special issue on Human Resources for Health and Governance.

The Vietnamese documentary filmproject Trong Hay Ngoai Tay Em (With or Without me) by Phuong Thao Tran and Swann Dubus has been awarded ‘Le prix Planète Rouge’ at FIDLab, an international co-production platform for film projects in Marseille.

A symposium organized by the two networks MDG5 Meshwork for Improving Maternal Health and Share-Net took place at the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) on 30 May. The afternoon was organized around the question why and how the Netherlands should continue investing in Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and HIV/AIDS.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has redesignated the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in Amsterdam as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Research, Training and Development of Human Resources for Health. The redesignation is for another period of four years.

KIT Development Policy and Practice has reviewed worldwide interventions to attract and retain health workers in rural and remote areas.

On Friday 8 July, a new one-day course will be organized at the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT). ‘Preparation of (voluntary) medical practice in developing countries’ is aimed at Dutch nurses, midwives and medical doctors planning to do clinical work in developing countries.

Mr. Emanuel Orozco, a social anthropologist working for the National Institute of Public Health in Cuernavaca in Mexico, is visiting the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) as part of a 10-week visit supported by the EC Erasmus Mundus scholarship programme.

KIT Development Policy & Practice has developed a framework to monitor and evaluate the impact of health insurance schemes in developing countries. This is the first model that makes it possible to evaluate the financial, social and operational aspects of a health insurance scheme.

The Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) has recently published a booklet on opportunities and challenges in a sustainable spice industry. The book is a result of the efforts KIT’s department Development Policy & Practice (DEV) made in the field of sustainable development.

KIT Development Policy & Practice, the research department of the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), and UNAIDS Technical Support Facilities piloted two Virtual Learning Communities on health systems strengthening and HIV in 2010.

The Netherlands India Foundation for Innovation (NIFI) and the KIT organized the 7th Netherlands India Innovation Circle meeting in Amsterdam on March 23.

Participants of the KIT Masters in Public Health (MPH) / International Course in Health Development program have made a representation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands and to the parliamentary committee on development cooperation.

Applications to KIT’s master’s programmes have increased by more than 10 per cent this year, but applications to the Netherlands Fellowship Programme have decreased by almost 40 per cent.

Prof. dr. Eric Smaling has been appointed the new director of KIT Development Policy & Practice, the Royal Tropical Institute’s main department for development cooperation. Smaling says he intends to join the institute in the ongoing public debate around development cooperation, 'especially since this area is so much under attack socially and politically. Given its history and stature, KIT has a role to play in this debate.'

The Master’s in Public Health (MPH) and International Health (MIH) have been accredited by the Nederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatieorganisatie (NVAO).

On 12 October the Sustainable Spice Conference took place at KIT. More than a hundred people attended the conference, among them representatives of various segments of the spice chain. The aim of the conference was to answer the question: What are the conditions that lead to sustainability of the entire spice chain – from small farmers to international spice companies? Dialogue and trust proved to be essential to bridge the gap between the different interests of different parties.

Every year, over half a million women die because of complications during pregnancy or childbirth and many more become permanently disabled. Although most of these deaths and disabilities are preventable, the Millennium Development Goal with the least success to date is MDG5, the reduction of maternal death.