Dear Colleagues,
We are proud and honored to launch the inaugural issue of the Rwanda Public Health Bulletin (RPHB), available in printed and online formats. – Today marks the release of RPHB Vol.1, no.1.
The RPHB is a printed and open access, peer-reviewed journal, publishing scientific and technical periodic publications by Ministry of Health through Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC). The journal’s core mission is to foster information sharing between Rwanda’s health professionals, and on the long run serve as a regional public health library. The aims are to contribute to knowledge dissemination and continued professional development of front liner health practitioners in Rwanda and in the region; to bridge the gap in public health information sharing between policy-makers, researchers, health professionals.
Currently, most public health institutions are constantly under pressure to increase the number of publications of their data, and demonstrate the value of their impact to the general public; the journal’s efforts will focus on providing space for public health communication. Rwanda has a baggage of important unpublished public health program evaluation reports and research data. Often than not, evidence generation resources and efforts have been duplicated due to lack of public access to existing scientific information.
The RPHB is coming as an information research data sharing platform where, public health reports and studies will be collected and compiled to inform public health evaluators, academicians and researchers in the country. The platform will also serve as reference to health policy making procedures.
The bulletin will publish articles of public health attention These will include letter to editor, disease surveillance summaries, evaluation of public health interventions, public health notices or outbreak reports, case reports, case studies, opinion articles, commentaries, original research papers, review papers, research brief and policy briefs or notes.
Issues under this bulletin will be published twice a year with eventual publications of special issues and supplements. It will be available online at www.rbc.gov.rw/rwandapublichealthbulletin. Being an open access platform, there are no article processing charges.
The editorial policy of RPHB will be guided by the high standards of scientific quality and integrity, professional responsibility, and and human compassion that constitute the Rwanda public health scholarly and ethical legacy. Furthermore, the scientific standards and impact of open-access journals are no different from traditional subscription-based journals; RPHB will undergo the same peer-review process and quality control as would any other scholarly journal.
The RPHB has a strong team of editorial experts from different public health backgrounds. The experience in health research editorship and publication guarantees highly ethical standards and fair peer-review process.
In this first issue we have a range of articles focusing on issues of family planning and fertility, community health, occupational health, malaria, and ischemic encephalopathy among others.
We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of the contributions from authors, reviewers, and the editorial team that have made this first issue possible. We are also grateful for the financial and technical support from CDC-Foundation/Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative.
I am very humbled to serve as the inaugural Editor-in-Chief. Together with editors, we are looking forward to working closely with the fantastic staff at RBC and all editorial board members to ensure a sustained continuation of the RPHB.
Sincerely Yours,
Prof. Leon MUTESA, MD, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
