Sharing your work with two-thirds of the world

Salutations and welcome my dear friends and family to the first edition of the 2023 Silk Road Supplement, which covers the Asia Pacific region. The Silk Road was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BC until the mid-15th century. Hence, the supplement's name, as we are trying to connect the Asia Pacific region all the way to the Middle East.

There are 4.7 billion people in this region—two-thirds of the world's population. There are many developing countries in this region and many clinicians and wound care professionals are doing their best work to comprehensively manage hard-to-heal (chronic) and complex wounds. Hard-to-heal wounds are defined as those that fail to heal with standard therapy in an orderly and timely manner. Infection is a major problem in the Asia Pacific region and biofilms play a pivotal role in hard-to-heal wounds. Ischaemia is another factor that seems to be increasing in wounds, especially diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) as the prevalence and incidence of diabetes reaches epic proportions in this region due to reasons such as obesity, genetic distribution, sedentary lifestyle, among other reasons. Diabetic foot complications are on the rise. D-Foot International, the implementation arm of the International Working Group on Diabetic Foot, is spearheading a campaign to end avoidable amputation, which is gaining traction in the region.