Our Story
PHOTO CREDIT: Millicent Zacher
Our story is one of firsts. Since our inception, we have been at the forefront of promoting travel medicine.
We were the first to provide travel health advice to travellers and our non-profit network of qualified English-speaking doctors was the precursor to travel medical insurance. Our trusted information on travel vaccines, prevention of infectious diseases and injuries, travel insurance, elder travel, and travel and mental health have helped countless travellers stay healthy.
And now with our scholarships and lectureships, we are continuing to make the world a healthier place to travel.
Our story began in a hospital in Rome in 1960.
At that time, a doctor from the Canadian Embassy in Rome referred a sick patient to Dr. Vincenzo Marcolongo. The patient was a young Canadian composer studying in Italy and was experiencing recurring high fever and general weakness. The patient was referred to him because Dr. Marcolongo had done his postgraduate training at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and spoke English. Through consultations, Dr. Marcolongo was able to determine that the cause of the patient’s illness was the prescription of a drug called Aminopyrine. This pain medication was commonly prescribed in Italy at the time and harmless to Italians, but harmful to people of Anglo-Saxon descent. Dr. Marcolongo understood how a person’s genetics affect the body’s response to medication, but had he not, the outcome for his patient would have been much worse.
It was this experience that inspired Dr. Marcolongo to create IAMAT (International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers) and make the medical needs of travellers his life’s work. In an era of increasing international travel, he saw a need for collaboration among medical practitioners around the world to help travellers. Dr. Marcolongo worked tirelessly to inform travelers of health risks and raise awareness of travelers’ health among travel industry professionals and medical practitioners worldwide.
The world is different today than it was in 1960. What began as an effort to ensure travellers have access to reliable travel health advice and healthcare abroad has evolved into something much bigger: bringing travel medicine to more countries and travellers with our scholarships and lectureships. Dr. Marcolongo’s foresight, compassion and generosity continue to serve as inspiration for our work.
Message from Our Founder
When the relations of people are expressed in terms of cooperation and human endeavour, we become conscious and deeply aware that we belong to each other. With the progress of technology, and the consequent increase in communications, people are no longer confined within the boundaries of their own country. In view of the medical aspects involved in travel, it was obvious that an active cooperation among physicians throughout the world was required.
In 1960, we coordinated the services of doctors into the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers. Distinguished physicians and respected medical institutions, with a sense of solidarity which makes them like one family, were brought together to assist travellers who may require medical assistance in their journey. The international nature of travel demands closer relationships of mutual collaboration.
In the era which the human family is now entering, we must overcome the barriers that still divide us. To decipher these signs of the times is to add a new dimension to one’s mind. The need for peace and understanding between the peoples of the world has never been as great as now. Peace can come only with understanding, and travel is an important means of acquiring it. It is, however, only through the full consciousness of “the essence of being human” that we shall be able to open the difficult paths of international relationships.
As a traveller you have an excellent opportunity to create ties of friendship. To you, therefore, we bring this message, a message sparked with beauty all its own: “The search for the human”.
Vincenzo Marcolongo, MD, DTM
March 6, 1922 – February 2, 1988
Our Timeline
Our non-profit organization was founded by Dr. Vincenzo Marcolongo. He made the medical needs of travellers his life’s work after saving the life of Norma Beecroft, a Canadian composer who fell ill in Rome. As international tourism was on the rise with the advent of air travel, Dr. Marcolongo saw an urgent need to coordinate trusted medical care for travellers no matter who or where they are in the world.
Travellers joined IAMAT for free and accessed our travel health resources with a donation of any amount. As our founder said, “I believed that if you were good to people, they would respond generously… and IAMAT has proved all of this to be true.”
The first edition of the Medical Directory is published. This pocket-sized booklet listed fully licensed English-speaking doctors committed to treating travellers according to a set fee schedule. IAMAT-affiliated physicians provided referrals to specialists and reported back to the traveller’s doctor back home if needed. Doctors were recruited and vetted from around the world to ensure the delivery of high high-quality medical services to travellers. This was the precursor to travel medical insurance.
This pamphlet was developed for IAMAT members to summarize their medical history, vaccination status, prescription medications, allergies, and existing medical conditions. Travellers presented this document to IAMAT-affiliated physicians to facilitate consultations or in emergency departments.
This was the world’s first resource listing travel vaccines and malaria risk for all countries in one handy pamphlet for travellers. It informed them on required and recommended vaccinations as well as outlining malaria risk areas. This publication marked the beginning of IAMAT’s reputation for data gathering and coordination with respected research and health institutes around the globe.
This collection of 24 charts provided information on climate, water, and food safety conditions for 1440 cities worldwide. Climate information was based on 30-year averages and also included clothing advice. This popular resource was originally a fundraiser for the Ut Unum Sint Centre envisioned for the study of medical aspects of travel and geographical health. As the travel medicine landscape changed, our fundraising efforts eventually focused on developing our Travel Medicine Scholarship program.
This publication kicked of our malaria campaign to raise awareness among travellers. At that time, malaria was making a resurgence as a result of growing resistance to pesticides used to kill mosquitoes. Together with the expanded Malaria Risk Chart, these two resources provided detailed information on all risk areas globally, including practical advice on protection measures. The campaign informed travellers, doctors, and travel agents on this preventable disease.
As part of our malaria campaign, we developed La Mosquette, a free-standing, portable bed net for travellers. At 5 lbs, the bed net included an easily adjustable aluminum frame for twin or double beds and was impregnated with permethrin. This well-liked bed net also protected against other insects such as spiders, ticks, and cockroaches, and triatomine bugs that transmit Chagas Disease.
This pamphlet outlined the risk of Chagas Disease to travellers trekking in Latin America. This infection is caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite transmitted by triatomine insects which bite at night. This illness can also spread through contaminated blood products, during pregnancy, and more rarely through contaminated food and drinks. This handy pamphlet outlined the risk areas and prevention options.
These companion documents were the first of their kind for travellers alerting them to schistosomiasis, a parasitic infection caused by trematode worms transmitted by infected freshwater snails in tropical areas. The resources detailed the risk areas in the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia and provided advice on protection and treatment.
In memory of IAMAT’s founder, Dr. Vincenzo Marcolongo, we began sponsoring lectures given by travel and tropical medicine experts at the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene annual meetings. The annual lectureships cover diverse topics in infectious, environmental, and non-communicable diseases.
This pocket guide written by Dr. Elaine Jong, a leader in travel medicine, was a popular resource with travellers looking for a one-stop source for planning a healthy trip. It included a countdown timeline, a comprehensive checklist to prepare a travel medicine kit, and advice on the prevention and treatment of common travel ailments. Subsequent editions were co-authored with Anne Terry, a nurse practitioner specializing in travel health.
Our first website is launched. Travellers could access comprehensive health profiles for all countries. Throughout the years, we continuously expanded our content to reach more travellers around the world. Our blog posts highlighted the latest developments in travel health and issues of importance to our members, including topics such as snake bites, air pollution, mental health, climate change, and injury prevention.
With the generous donations from our members, we awarded the first Travel Medicine Scholarship to a doctor from China. As the country was opening up for tourism, travellers were seeking reputable healthcare, and we responded by partnering with leading travel medicine experts to provide intensive courses with clinical observation opportunities. Subsequently, the scholarship program expanded to fill the gap in travel medicine training in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Since 2002 we have awarded more than 45 scholarships.
Our Medical Directory expanded to list psychiatric practitioners committed to assist our travellers. This listing was developed to fill the gap on the lack of travel medical insurance coverage for mental health. Psychiatric emergencies are one of the leading causes of evacuations and repatriations along with injuries and cardiovascular disease.
Travel is enjoyable, but it can also be stressful. This series of five easy-to-use checklists for pre-, during, and post-travel offered tips on coping with travel stress, culture shock, managing expectations and travelling with medication. The comprehensive guides, the first of their kind for travellers, also focused on depression and bipolar disorder, substance dependence, anxiety disorders, and psychotic disorders.
The travel medical insurance marketplace can be complicated to navigate. Extensive research was done on the travel medical insurance landscape to provide travellers with a better understanding of what to look for, how insurance works behind the scenes, some of the pitfalls of coverage, and how to find the right plan for their current health status and type of trip.
This online trip planning tool was launched for members to get destination-specific travel health information, including required and recommended vaccinations, prevention of infectious diseases, and general advice on how to stay healthy abroad.
This unique illustrated tipsheet series advised travellers visiting friends and relatives (VFRs) who travel to their country of origin, usually to areas with lower incomes, different epidemiological landscapes and a lack of access to quality healthcare. The checklists focused on preventing insect bites, food and water illnesses, malaria, and road injuries, including advice on travel vaccines and fake medications.
This easy-to-use reference guide tailored advice to the needs of older travellers. Each chapter featured checklists and advice on how to stay healthy at every stage of the trip. The booklet offered practical advice on a range of topics, including travelling with medication, managing chronic conditions like diabetes, aches and pains, and cardiovascular disease, accessibility and mobility, travel vaccines, travel health insurance, and travel stress. This guide for travellers became a companion resource with The Older Traveller: A Guide for the Health Professional, co-published with the South African Society of Travel Medicine in 2016.
We wrote this guide to address common questions and concerns about travelling with medication, especially around country import restrictions and availability abroad. This comprehensive resource, a first for travellers, provided helpful tips and checklists on how to determine if their medication is regulated, how to travel and safely pack medication, and awareness about fake medication.
After 60 years of helping countless travellers with trusted travel health advice and resources, our attention turns to expanding our Travel Medicine Scholarships and Lectureships, where we can make the biggest difference. Our scholarships train doctors and nurses in countries where travel medicine is an emerging practice, and our lectureships spread knowledge on the latest travel medicine developments to practitioners who care for travellers.
We celebrate another milestone birthday thanks to the generosity of our donors!
We've updated our name to IAMAT-FSIMT (Foundation for the Support of International Medical Training) to better reflect our work as a travel medicine scholarship-granting and lectureship-supporting organization. Our mission remains unchanged - to make the world a healthier place to travel.
