Year: 2018
Type: editorial
Abstract: Richard M.K. Adanu Editor, IJGO This month, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) is organizing a Regional Congress of Middle East and Africa in Dubai. To commemorate this Congress, the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics (IJGO) has published a special issue that highlights research conducted in Africa and the Middle East. This special issue was not a result of a call for submissions, but was compiled from manuscripts submitted in the months leading up to the Congress. The Congress will have many scientific presentations that focus on women's and maternal health in the region, and in addition to that we would like to showcase papers that report on research carried out in the region. IJGO will also be running a session at the Congress on scientific writing and data analysis, and we take this opportunity to invite delegates to join us at this session. Collaboration is a key to successful research and this is shown by the multiple-authored papers in this issue. Inter-regional collaboration is also shown by the presence of papers with authors from not only Africa or the Middle East, but also other parts of the world. At IJGO there is a policy that research papers from low-income and middle-income countries will not be accepted for publication if there are no local authors. We believe that this policy is helping to develop research capacity in these countries, many of which are in Africa and the Middle East. The papers in this special issue cover a broad range of topics and research methodologies. There are papers that make use of traditional epidemiological research methods and others that are based on implementation research methodology. The subjects covered include maternal mortality and morbidity, family planning, infertility and its management, gynecological cancer screening and management, and health financing in obstetric care. There is also a paper that focuses on Ebola virus disease which, in the recent past, created major challenges in some countries in West Africa. We hope that these papers will give our readers an idea of the major issues that concern researchers and clinicians in Africa and the Middle East. These published papers do not highlight every single issue of importance in this region, but should help to increase our understanding of the issues relating to women's and maternal health. IJGO congratulates the FIGO Executive Committee and the Local Organizing Committee for organizing this Regional Congress. We expect this Congress to be a successful one and hope that it will lead to increased collaborative efforts within the region and also between the region and other parts of the world. We welcome all delegates to Dubai, and we express our gratitude to the numerous clinicians and researchers from Africa and the Middle East who serve the journal as peer reviewers and who continue to submit manuscripts to us. All of you play a major part in making the journal successful.
DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.12436
Author: Richard M.K. Adanu
Institution: University of Ghana
Language: English
Topic: Global Health and Surgery
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2790888995