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letter to members



European Society for Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care (ESPMH)


Secretariat: Prof. dr. Henk ten Have

Dept. of Ethics, Philosophy and History of Medicine University Medical Centre Nijmegen

Postbox 9101

6500 HB Nijmegen, the Netherlands

Nijmegen, January 30, 2002


Dear member,


Enclosed you find materials in relation to the forthcoming annual conference of ESPMH in Malta. It is important that you carefully read these materials since we hope that many of you will decide to attend this conference in such a beautiful location. We look forward to receive your registration forms.


This letters also is the first step in a significant issue to be discussed during the General Assembly of the Society on Friday August 23, 2002 in Malta: the composition of the Executive Committee of ESPMH.

The composition of the Executive Committee per January 2002 is as follows:

  • Lennart Nordenfelt (Sweden) President 2002-2004
  • Renzo Pegoraro (Italy) President-elect 2002-2004
  • Gerrit Kimsma (Netherlands) Treasurer 2000-2002
  • Henk ten Have (Netherlands) Secretary 2000-2002
  • Richard Ashcroft (UK) member 2000-2002
  • Soren Holm (UK) member 2000-2002
  • Zbig Szawarski (Poland) member 2002-2004
  • Nikola Biller (Germany) member 2002-2004
  • Pierre Mallia (Malta) member 2002-2004

>From this overview it is evident that there will be 4 vacancies in 2003, necessitating elections in the Malta General Assembly.
In order to have a more transparent and democratic procedure in the future, and following discussions in the GA in Lisbon, the Executive Committee will submit a proposal for a ByLaw to the Statutes. This proposal will be discussed in Malta, but it is necessary to make preparations for elections before the Malta meeting. We will therefore follow the procedures which will be outlined in the proposal. The first step in this procedure is to invite nominations from the membership. Second, the Executive Committee will make a proposal on the basis of received nominations. Third, this proposal will be circulated prior to the General Assembly; if members do not agree, they can prepare an alternative proposal (backed by 10% of the membership). The proposal of the EC, as well as such proposals of the membership will be open for voting during the General Assembly. At the same time, members who cannot attend the General Assembly can request postal ballot sheets.


Now, we like to invite you to make nominations for each of the 4 vacancies in the Executive Committee. For a valid nominations you have to follow these rules:

  • specify for which vacancy you make a nomination (secretary, treasurer, member l, member 2)
  • we need the written consent of the person nominated (in a letter or via email to the secretariat)
  • we need 2 signatures of members who are making this nomination (names and signatures, either through fax or letter)
  • the nominations must have been received at the secretariat before March 15, 2002


In making its proposal, the Executive Committee will consider as criteria: geographical diversity, professional diversity, gender diversity, and European residency. If you are considering of making nominations, it will be helpful if you could also take into account the above criteria.


Best wishes, and looking forward to welcome you in Malta.


Prof. dr. Henk ten Have

Secretary of ESPMH