The Journal turns 100 years old

In 2021 and 2022, the Pan American Journal of Public Health will undertake several initiatives to commemorate its first century, a special celebration that precedes the 120th anniversary of the Pan American Health Organization and its continuous work promoting health in the Americas. 

Among the contents offered to regional authorities in the first Pan American Health Bulletin, published in 1922, was a list of cases and deaths from contagious diseases such as cholera, bubonic plague, smallpox, exanthematic typhus and yellow fever, along with information on treatment and prevention.  This first publication shows the vision held by the Member States of the then Pan American Sanitary Bureau to create a pathway for the exchange of scientific information that could respond to the changing conditions and needs faced by the Region. In contrast to the time when the article "Differential Diagnosis and Extirpation of Smallpox" (1922) was published, today the Journal receives more than 1500 manuscripts submissions each year from authors around the world in English, Spanish and Portuguese, ranging from evaluations of preventable deaths in children to the consequences of fake news during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Journal evolved over time. Its print editions have gone, and today readers from all over the world have free online access to special issues such as the recently published "Infodemiology". Some articles, like Call for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity, and protect health, address hot topics and are published in collaboration with internationally renowned journals, such as Lancet, British Medical Journal and New England Journal of Medicine.  

More than 150 articles are published each year—selected from 1,500 manuscripts submitted annually—that reflect the latest findings on the most relevant topics in regional public health. Doubling the impact factor during 2020 and more than 150,000 visits to its website each month indicate the interest of the readership in the Journal´s content. During the pandemic, the Journal has also prioritized COVID-19 related articles to support PAHO response to the health crisis, which are available on a dedicated website. 

As part of the Department of Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health and the Knowledge Management team, the Pan American Journal of Public Health forges its legacy for the next century by producing and disseminating scientific knowledge that can be applied to the health conditions and realities affecting the Americas. The Journal is available free of charge at www.paho.org/journal and represents a valuable tool for all countries in the Americas. You can receive information on published articles via Twitter @rpsp_pajph or by subscribing to the mailing list.