Since 1929, the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine has promoted MEDTROP – a congress that has established itself as a national reference in the area, bringing relevant, hot and comprehensive topics, with major national and international partnerships and collaborations. The congress advances and renews itself in this edition, choosing as its motto “TROPICAL MEDICINE UNDER THE PERSPECTIVE OF ONE HEALTH”.
One Health is a multisectoral, transdisciplinary, integrated and unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems. The approach recognizes that the health of humans, animals, plants and the wider environment are intimately linked and interdependent, requiring a joint approach aimed at sustainable development.
Tropical Medicine has always considered the importance of other species, but mainly as a source of infection, reservoirs of microorganisms in the transmission chain, as in the case of the origin of HIV, Sars-Cov-2 and reservoirs of certain parasitic diseases. It is worth noting that, in the last three decades, 75% of emerging diseases are zoonoses. On the other hand, it is important to consider the interconnection between human infection/disease and infection/disease of other species. A good example is infection by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, with strains resistant to antimicrobials, identified among the “priority pathogens” by the World Health Organization, and considered the greatest threat to human health due to its high lethality. At the same time, this bacterium affects cattle, one of the reservoirs for transmission to humans. In this species, it causes mastitis, an inflammation of the mammary glands that is difficult to control, compromising milk production and having considerable economic repercussions in the agricultural sector, in addition to favoring the emergence of strains resistant to antimicrobials, due to the often uncontrolled use of antibiotics in its treatment. This aspect is a warning about the issue of food safety.
A well-known fact from the experience of doctors and health professionals, resulting from the recent scenario in the area, is that when dealing with originally infectious diseases, the entire scientific-medical arsenal must be considered, both from the point of view of medical specialties and technological resources.
Within this vision, we will have a comprehensive theme covering infections caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites and other issues such as the health of travelers to endemic areas, accidents caused by venomous animals, etc. These will be focused on from a One Health perspective, considering environmental issues and the participation of other animal species. The interface with veterinary science will come to the fore. Zoonoses closely related to human health and antimicrobial resistance due to uncontrolled use of antibiotics in other species will be highlighted. Translational research to support new therapeutic interventions will be discussed. Control strategies, surveillance of emerging diseases, prediction of future epidemics and pandemics, development of new technologies, new inputs, and vaccine efficacy will also be widely discussed.
To address such current and comprehensive topics, which are attractive to a large number of participants, we chose the Rebouças Convention Center, which offers a modern and welcoming environment, in a privileged location in São Paulo: linked to the HC-FMUSP complex, a few steps from the Clínicas Metro station, a few meters from bus stops, with ample parking that also offers spaces for bicycles, at the confluence of Avenidas Paulista, Rebouças and Dr. Arnaldo.
The expectation is to bring together more than 3,000 participants from all states of Brazil and other countries. During the event, diverse and differentiated activities are planned to enhance knowledge updating, networking, collaborations and medical-scientific development.