Find out the key milestones for the African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, the issues to be addressed and its new goals from its Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Bob Mash, in this 11-minute podcast interview. Listen to the podcast here.

Key milestones
The journal grew out of the Primafamed network of departments of family medicine in Sub-Saharan Africa and provides a unique platform for the discipline in the region to start publishing its research.

In 2016, PubMed Central (PMC) registered the journal, creating greater visibility outside Africa (read press release).

This year (2018), the journal was endorsed by the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) as its official journal.

The journal’s editorial team now includes assistant editors from other African countries, increasing its capacity to publish more diverse submissions:

• Sunanda Ray from the University of Zimbabwe
• Eduardo Burgueño Sánchez-Taíz from the Université de Mwene-Ditu in the Democratic Republic of theCongo, who can edit in French
• Klaus von Pressentin from Stellenbosch University in South Africa

Issues to be addressed
Primary healthcare is an essential component of African health systems. Unfortunately, primary healthcare systems and family medicine are underdeveloped in Africa. In our efforts to improve health and reduce inequity and achieve the sustainable development goals, we need to strengthen primary healthcare in Africa. One of the ways to do so is through the journal which provides a shared platform for primary care and family medicine research.

We encourage submissions on the three key areas that the Primafamed network recently identified that need to be addressed:
Identifying the different models in Africa and measuring the effectiveness of Community Orientated Primary Care (COPC) as a model for Africa
Defining the role of the family physician in primary healthcare teams in Africa
Finding, validating and using tools to measure the effectiveness of primary healthcare in Africa

Goals for the journal
Prof. Bob Mash’s four goals are:

• To broaden the submissions to include researchers in other disciplines within the wider group of primary care, for example, community health, public health, allied health and nursing
• To increase the measurable ranking of the journal
• To balance the need to be developmental with the need for greater visibility and impact
• To become a journal that is truly representative of the African continent by increasing the percentage of submissions received from more African countries

Submission overview
When you submit an article to the journal, you will be able to track and participate in all the activities related to the processing of it, such as, the review process, copy editing, layout editing and proofing of manuscripts, which are all managed on the electronic platform.

Please visit the journal website and contact us should you have any questions about the submission guidelines and procedures. Website address: phcfm.org.