International Maritime Health Association

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The International Maritime Health Association (IMHA) works to improve health and safety for people who work at sea, including seafarers, fishermen, and port workers. It aims to raise health standards worldwide by coordinating with governments, the shipping industry, unions, and other international groups.

IMHA was founded on June 17, 1997, during the 4th International Symposium on Maritime Health in Oslo, Norway, with Mohammed Saeme as its first president. It develops international health standards and supports better maritime health practices.

IMHA runs the International Symposium on Maritime Health every two years, where members share research. The first ISMH took place in Turku, Finland in 1991; the 10th was in Goa, India; the 11th in Odessa (2011) and the 12th in France (2013).

IMHA-Research began in 2014 as a subgroup to focus on mental health and wellbeing, aligning with European Commission strategies and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 3 (Good health and well-being) and Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). Its goal is to promote safe, preventive health strategies and encourage cross-disciplinary research to help seafarers and improve safety and efficiency. COVID-19 reduced its activities.

To keep the work going, MAHRE-Net was founded on September 3, 2020, via Zoom as an independent, non-profit network of IMHA-Research members. MAHRE-Net aims to advance maritime health research and education beyond the maritime sector, building on IMHA’s ideas, and is recognized by the IMHA Board. Its programs and education diplomas are for multiple industries. MAHRE-Net builds on earlier efforts like the International Maritime Health Surveillance Project (1997–2005).

On January 12, 2022, a new group—the International Diabetes and Hypertension Research Group for fishers, seafarers and other transport workers—was formed by experts from several countries. Its aim is to create safe, preventive health strategies aligned with UN SDGs, including Goal 3 (health), Goal 4 (quality education), Goal 8 (decent work), and Goal 17 (partnerships), with several concrete tasks to carry out.