Anthony Vassallo (former Chief Government Medical Officer), writes:

The news of the passing away of Prof. Herbert Michael Gilles has been received with great sadness in Malta, the UK and many other countries that have benefitted from his vast experience in public health, and especially in tropical medicine.

He was still imparting his experience and expertise in this field in a number of countries when he was in his 80s. A graduate in Medicine from the University of Malta, he specialised in the UK where for several years he served as dean and vice president of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

We were fortunate when for a number of years he served as head of the Department of Public Health at the Medical School of the University of Malta where he successfully launched the postgraduate course in Medicine leading to a Master’s degree in Public Health. This was an initiative he had strived for and achieved despite not having funds from the University for it. In fact, when in the early 1990s he approached the Department of Health for support, I had the satisfaction of providing him funds from the training component of the health vote of the national Budget to cover the expenses of renowned visiting professors and lecturers from abroad, including external examiners. This also served to raise the status of the postgraduate training. This seed funding enabled our doctors to specialise in Malta rather than having to go abroad and be State-funded for the much more expensive training abroad.

For his services to our country, the government honoured him with the title of Officer of the Order of Merit. He received his CMG from Queen Elizabeth, besides various honours from other countries.

The passing away of Prof. Gilles leaves a huge void both in respect of his immense knowledge and experience in the public health field but also because of his wonderful character – a perfect gentleman to all, very sensitive to one’s needs and always ready to assist anyone who sought his help. Everyone was impressed by his humble approach.

While we mourn the loss of a good friend to all and express our condolences to his family, which he loved so much, we will always treasure him. We are grateful to the Lord for his life, for the immense contribution Prof. Gilles has made to public health and to medicine in general, and for having had such a person with such a charming character. The world is richer as a result of his life.