The Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium (ITM) is one of the world's leading institutes for training, research and assistance in tropical medicine and health care in developing countries.

The ITM houses five scientific departments, a specialised outpatient clinic and various support services, and employs over 400 staff. The institute draws its core funding from the Flemish Ministries of Education and Science, and the Federal Ministries of Development Cooperation, Public Health and Social Affairs, international project financing and own income.

The ITM works with many scientific institutions, governments and organisations all over the world for a long-lasting improvement of health care and disease control in developing countries.

ITM's overall goals are to:

• To strengthen the rational basis of medical and veterinary health care in developing countries.
• To provide reference clinical services for the management of tropical diseases, import pathology and AIDS in Belgium.

Its fields of activity include all health problems related to the specific ecological and socio-economic conditions of developing countries.

Core tasks

Its core tasks in this area are:

• Clinical and preventive services for tropical diseases and related pathology.
• Advanced education in tropical human and veterinary medicine and in the management of health care in developing countries.
• Research on biomedical, clinical and operational aspects of tropical diseases and their control, and on the management of health care in developing countries.
• Supporting and strengthening national and international bodies concerned with human and animal health in developing countries. 
  

Standards and values

The institutional standards and values ITM adheres to are:

• Specificity: ITM operates within its specific mission, complementarily to universities, other academic institutes and development agencies.
• Quality: as a specialised institute, all activities must comply with the highest standards of quality.
• Relevance: from basic to intervention research, all activities must have relevance to our ultimate goals.
• Integrity: all activities are based on a coherent institutional concept of human values and rationality in health care and development.
• Institutional strength: is based on the interdisciplinarity, quality and devotion of our staff; the interaction between research, training and services; and our international partnerships and networks.
• Partnership: ITM acts in true partnership with other organisations, institutes and authorities in the South and North.