History of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene has a distinguished history. The Society was founded in 1907 by Sir James Cantlie and Dr George Carmichael Low to study diseases met with in tropical countries. Sir Patrick Manson, the Society’s first President (1907-9) is generally acknowledged as the ‘father of tropical medicine’. He passed the presidency on to Sir Ronald Ross (1909-11), discoverer of the role of mosquitoes in the transmission of malaria. Since that time, many of the most distinguished practitioners and researchers in the field of tropical medicine have been fellows of the Society.

In 1920, King George V gave his permission for the Society to use the Royal prefix. Her Majesty the Queen is Patron of the Society and Her Royal Highness, the Princess Royal is an Honorary Fellow.

For over 70 years, regular meetings of the Society were held in Manson House, 26 Portland Place, London (designed by Robert Adam), but in 2004 Manson House was sold and the offices of the Society moved to 50 Bedford Square, London. Meetings are now held at venues across London and in regional centres.

An important activity of the Society has been the production of its journal, the Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene which has been published regularly since 1907. This journal has reported many major discoveries in tropical medicine and maintains a high reputation in the field.

Although many of the classical tropical diseases, such as malaria, continue to cause many deaths and much ill health, the pattern of illness in many poor, developing countries is changing with an increasing incidence of non-communicable diseases. The Society is responding to these changes with an increasing focus at its meetings and in its journal on the overall health problems of poor societies in the developing world and on how to tackle these using a multi-disciplinary approach. The rich world is, at last, coming to the conclusion that the gap in health between its populations and those of the poorest countries of the world is no longer acceptable and funds are being made available to bridge this gap. The Society, with nearly 100 years of experience of work in the developing world, is in a strong position to help to ensure that these new resources are spent wisely and well.