Dear wound friends and family, we meet again in yet another edition of Wounds APAC.
Wounds APAC is the premier peer-reviewed, open-access wound care journal dedicated specifically to the Asia-Pacific region. Originally launched in 2018 as Wounds Asia, the biannual publication rebranded to expand its scope to the Pacific region. It serves as a vital clinical resource for healthcare professionals managing complex and chronic wounds across the region. The journal targets clinicians working in a region with a population of 4.7 billion people where wound care burdens, particularly diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) and burn injuries, are rising drastically. It is officially accepted for indexing in the Scopus database. It offers entirely free, open-access content to enhance clinical standardisation. Wounds APAC routinely publishes regional consensus documents tailored to unique challenges in Asian healthcare systems, including frameworks for antiseptics, DFUs, burn care and biofilm management.
The journal coordinates with the Malaysian Society of Wound Care Professionals and the International Wound Healing Foundation based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and acts as a central medium for regional events leading into major world events, such as the upcoming World Union of Wound Healing Societies (WUWHS) conference in Kuala Lumpur.
The WUWHS congress will be held on 23–27 September 2026 in the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia. It will be officiated by His Royal Highness The King of Malaysia. There will be 12 streams every day with nearly 400 speakers. This will be the silver jubilee celebration of the Wound Olympics. There are various awards to be won during this momentous event. For more information, visit the official conference website: www.wuwhs2026.org.
The clinical initiatives and challenges documented by Wounds APAC and its sister publications highlight the immense healthcare and financial pressures in the region. The International Diabetes Federation estimates that 537 million people globally are living with diabetes, with up to a third developing a DFU in their lifetime. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for more than 60% of global diabetes-related mortality, making standardised wound management frameworks critical to preventing amputations (OECD, 2023).
Wound care imposes massive national expenditures. For instance, in Australia, chronic wounds affect roughly 400,000 individuals, resulting in direct healthcare costs of AUD $3.5 billion annually (equivalent to roughly 2% of the country’s national health expenditure) (McCosker et al, 2019). Therefore, the burden of the disease especially the costs managing chronic complex wounds is increasing exponentially in the region. Education is needed to increase the knowledge of the standard of care in the Asia Pacific region.
Several real world evidence studies are published in this edition of Wounds APAC showcasing new technologies and advanced wound care dressings. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the authors and the publishers for a job well done. Please submit more robust studies to the journal to highlight the good work that you are doing in the region. Finally, my heartfelt gratitude to the reviewers and the editorial board for assisting my team in producing a superb journal.
