The role of universities and the ethics of their interventions in international health.

Even though exchange has always been a part of the University essence, we are now witnessing an important movement towards internationalization, which cannot be indissoluble from the phenomenon of the globalization of culture and exchanges. In the international health field, universities, either in the South or North, have traditionally played an important role which is ever expanding, due to the broadening of the concept of international health. In Canada, academic centers of international health have developed rapidly over the last decade, along with a network linking all universities that are active in the field. The development of this type of center at the University of Montreal is described in this paper. The lessons learned there lead us to insist on the importance of the attachment of international cooperation development programs to the teaching assignments and research programs of universities, and to pay particular attention to research in order to strive for excellence. It is also important to pay attention to the freedom of thought and action which is a fundamental value among university members. Among the universities involved in international health, some have gone adrift: be it the opportunism of some or the inappropriate use of university expertise by international cooperation agencies of others. Universities, in their undertakings, must respect, in addition to their own traditional ethic, the one of development.