Dear family and friends from the wound healing community, it is a pleasure and honour to bring you another great edition of the Silk Road supplement from the Journal of Wound Care, the official journal of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies (WUWHS).
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, most countries have started beefing up their vaccination drives and have even started giving booster doses. Life is, for some, in many ways almost returning to normal in this peri-pandemic time. However, what we have learnt from our experiences is how to best use information technology in terms of education and continued collaboration through webinars, virtual and hybrid conferences, virtual workshops and videos, all of which have taken the world by storm. The article by Queen1 discusses behavioural changes, distant interaction and a new world. Behavioural changes in the pandemic includes contact tracing, which would be a great taboo during normal times. Distant interaction without the physical presence has governed our day-to-day life in the ‘new normal’, whereby meetings are held virtually and half the workforce of corporations work from home. Students too study virtually. The downside to this is the lack of human or physical interaction, especially in huge conferences, as we are not able to ascertain if the message has been delivered. Virtual exams are also required to have two cameras to see the student answering the questions without referencing the answers via relevant search engines. A new world concept involves us embracing this new era of information technology, which does have its benefits. It is cost-effective and people from all over the world can meet more often and discuss their research, best practice, develop consensus and other guidance documents. This will increase the participation of the various specialties involved in wound management. More countries and continents can be reached with the virtual platform.
Patient applications are also becoming more popular, such as wound apps, patient and caregiver apps, as well as health professional apps. Nair2 showed that smartphone digital imagery, and wound measurement and analysis can increase productivity. It reduces the time taken for paramedics and nurses to take photographs and measure the wound area using disposable rulers. It was shown that approximately $25,000 USD was saved per year for each wound care nurse in terms of time used during the management of wounds.
The usage of these apps is advantageous as it helps us to collect data and photographic images easily, and enables quick analysis so that we can collate the data and present the findings swiftly. It also allows the patient, family and the wound care professionals to discuss their case and put forth salient suggestions to manage hard-to-heal complex wounds comprehensively and holistically. We therefore need to assess these new applications in terms of patient privacy and data protection laws, especially in the Asia Pacific region. This is the new way to go during this era.
The Malaysian Society of Wound Care Professionals (MSWCP) has been at the forefront of wound management. We have been doing home nursing free of charge during the pandemic with the support of the Hasanah Foundation. Last year, 1800 dressing visits were carried out for patients with low incomes and patients who cannot visit the hospitals due to non-ambulatory conditions. This year, we have embarked on another 3350 sessions, with the help of seasoned nurses and doctors, to help in a charitable way during this pandemic those patients who have debilitating wounds.
Education is also important. That is why I hope that you will submit articles to the Journal of Wound Care. The great work that you have done should be showcased in a Scorpus-indexed and high-impact journal to demonstrate the credibility of your work. We have papers from Malaysia, Jordan, Hong Kong, Korea and other countries in the Asia Pacific region in this edition which covers biotherapy, especially maggot debridement therapy, comparison of advanced wound dressings, incidence and prevalence of pressure injuries, literature reviews and others. We hope to get more countries to contribute to the Silk Road Supplement.
In addition, WUWHS will be organising its conference from 1–5 March 2022 in the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. We hope as many of you as possible will join the conference, either physically or virtually. We will also have the general assembly to choose the next country and society to host this huge congress. Malaysia, led by the MSWCP, will be bidding to bring the congress to the Asia Pacific region; we have two-thirds of the population and the greatest number of wound patients. Asia Pacific or the Oceania region is the place where we need help and collaboration to educate people on the proper standard of care, to help manage hard-to-heal complex wounds to reduce or minimise complications, and keep costs at a very low rate. We hope you will support our noble bid. The world needs to come together as one, especially during this pandemic.
We also need to manage cases guided by evidence-based medicine and practice. Real-world evidence is also crucial to highlight the work in various centres in the Asia Pacific region. Wang et al.3 documented the importance of real-world evidence, more so during the pandemic, as it is very difficult and costly to conduct randomised controlled trials, especially in this region. They have also suggested a structured template for carrying out these studies. Therefore, we have more evidence on implementing and publishing more robust data in the journals. This should encourage the young scientists and researchers to embark on research as a career. However, a lot of effort and time is required. We need more passionate people as wound healers in this part of the world. There are a lot out there, working in their silos and the Silk Road supplement offers them an avenue to publish their work.
Thank you. Stay safe. Take care.