They say diversity in editorial boards is not just symbolic, it is “essential for aligning research priorities with the needs of the populations most affected by tropical diseases”. Colombian Alfonso Rodríguez Morales, editor in chief of the journal Emerging Tropical Diseases at Frontiers in Tropical Diseases, said: “In our journal, through various initiatives, we have promoted the participation of the Global South in production, review, and editing. “There have been calls for decolonising global health and many reforms underway including by funder[s]. He says the knowledge held by scientists and health workers in countries where tropical medicine occurs must be given more credibility. “We need to fund scientists in countries where tropical diseases actually occur, not in distant lands,” he said.