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Revista Colombia Médica
Universidad del Valle - Facultad de Salud
ISSN: 0120-8322 EISSN: 1657-9534
Vol. 40, Num. 2, 2009, pp. 147-147
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Revista Colombia Médica, Vol. 40, No. 2, Abril-Junio, 2009, pp. 147
Editorial
Agreement Towards Excellence
Julián A. Herrera M., MD
Editor in Chief,
Emeritus Head Professor,
Department of Family Medicine,
Faculty of Health, Universidad del Valle, Cali
Code Number: rc09019
Colombia Médica was recently classified by COLCIENCIAS in A1
category as a fair recognition by its long undertaking of scientific
publication during four decades, achieving articles to be consulted and
informed in twenty two international data bases, including Institute
for Scientific Information (ISI-Thomson), and having an impact factor
(SCIMAGO). All of this is by being devoted to an outstanding quality:
excellence.
In the beginning Colombia Médica was printed out on paper with
one thousand copies quarterly for national distribution and extended
exchange requested by libraries from prestigious universities over the
world. Web publication of the journal was a decisive step to increase
its diffusion at a long scale. International data bases information of
reading people show that a very important part of consultation (60%) is
done over the five continent´s countries surpassing the mean of
one thousand consults per day.
A journal importance may be measured by its level of contribution to
new knowledge, academic debate of highly controversial topics having as
central axle scientific contribution frontiers and state of the art,
which is reflected by the degree of article quotation in highest level
publications. Investigators from twenty countries of three continents
have communicated their research contributions in Colombia
Médica; this demonstrates and proves the journal visibility both
for regular readers and for the international scientific community.
La Universidad del Valle is a superior education institution
distinguished by national government due to its excellence patterns and
classified by SCIMAGO as the Colombian public university of high
standing scientific visibility. Institutional support to research, in
all dimensions, has made possible to Colombia Médica the
development of internal regulations that obey to university structure,
maintaining at the same time an editorial independence which preserves
its high standards.
Colombia Médica works to implement an automated system (web
manager) limbering important mechanisms like articles submission,
evaluation process and management of editorial decisions, in order to
increase in authors the proportion of an universal language use for
scientific communication. In this number sixteen articles have been
received from four countries and two continents, more than half of them
written in English, which demonstrates an advance achieving the
proposed objectives.
Finally I would like to refer to a public health problem that continues
with no solution in Colombia. It has been treated by some authors of
various articles in this number. According to United Nations Population
Fund maternal mortality is the millennium developing goal that is less
achieved in the country. The National Health Institute of the United
States of America (NHI) has made a call to diminish research breach
between disciplines as the only way to find some day
preeclampsia’s etiology and prevention, which is the first cause
of maternal death in Colombia. Regardless of known causes, there is a
consensus about the multifactorial origin of the illness; and so,
preventive actions should be taken in that direction, as it is
presented by the review article.
Increase coverage of prenatal control, number of prenatal controls, and
increase institutional attention at delivery, is not concordant with
high mortality rates observed in many countries in the region, that
also present issues with attention quality and a high degree of
unaccomplished standards and protocols. This situation deserves a very
deep reflexion. Government, academy, and society have a great social
responsibility to modify this serious problem that affects in a very
sensitive way life quality specially that of the most vulnerable
population.
© Copyright 2009 - Revista Colombia Médica
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