1. Formal establishment of the Forum
The first General Assembly in Norwegian Forum for Global Health Research was held 16 November 2006. Board members and deputies to the new board were elected, with a later clarification of the representatives of University of Oslo.
In a telephone meeting 21 November Gunnar Kvåle was elected as chair and June Jacobsen Steen vice chair of the board the Norwegian Forum for Global Health Research. Composition of the new board
A secretariat of the Norwegian Forum for Global Health Research has been established at the Centre for International Health, University of Bergen. Nils Gunnar Songstad has served as the head of secretariat for the interim board of Forum since 2005.
The General Assembly approved the 
Statutes. Some issues regarding the statues were raised and the board will develop a revised version of the statues and present it at the 2007 General Assembly.
2. International conference on Global Health and Vaccination Research
The International Conference on Global Health and Vaccination Research 16 - 17 November 2006 was organized by the Research Council of Norway in collaboration with the Norwegian Forum for Global Health Research. More information on the conference is available on www.forskningsradet.no/servlet/Satellite?cid=1108644001322&pagename=globalhelse%2FPage%2FHovedSideEng
3. Federation of European Societies for Tropical Medicine and International Health (FESTMIH) Conference 24-28 May 2007
The Norwegian Forum for Global Health Research will join the Federation of European Societies for Tropical Medicine and International Health (FESTMIH). For more information on the Federation, see www.festmih.net/index.html. FESTMIH will arrange the 5th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health in Amsterdam, May 24-28, 2007. For further details, see www.trop-amsterdam2007.com. We encourage you to participate. The deadline for early registration fee is January 1st and for standard registration fee, April 1st, 2007. Deadline for abstract submission is March 15, 2007.
The interim board was earlier in 2006 involved in discussions on the regional committees for medical research ethics reluctance to process applications in English (see Newsletter 1/2006, item 3). The latest development is that the Ministry for Education ad Research suggest accepting applications in English.
The letter (in Norwegian) is available here
5. Strengthening and improved coordination of Norwegian programmes and funding of Global Health Research
The interim board discussed the problem of fragmentation and poor co-ordination of Norwegian Global Health Research and suggested to appoint a working group to investigate the current situation and to suggest improvements. The proposal was supported by the Directorate for Health and Social Affairs. The new board will develop terms of reference for the working group and actively participate in the work.
A permanent website for the Norwegian Forum for Global Health Research will soon bee established. We will however continue to use e-mail for communication of important information. Many of you have already registered on the e-mail list that was established earlier this year.
Bergen, 7 December 2006
Gunnar Kvåle
Chair of the board
Nils Gunnar Songstad
Head of secretariat