The health of women and children – an integral part of practice of family and community medicine

Li Li

The practice of family and community medicine covers all spectrum of health, including that of women and children. In this issue of FMCH, volume 6, issue number 3, four original research articles address various aspects of health in these two subpopulations, highlighting the comprehensiveness of primary healthcare.

Specifically, Siuw et al. [ 1] examined intraocular pressure [IOP] among premenopausal and postmenopausal women in Malaysia and reported a significant impact on IOP by menopause; Ishola et al. [ 2] developed and validated a new tool to screen postpartum depression among mothers of preterm babies,which demonstrated meritorious validity in the obstetric population; Ghose and Yaya [ 3]examined factors influencing self-management behavior among hypertensive women in Ghana and found that socioeconomic status significantly impacts women’ s adherence to blood pressure-controlling behavior; and Shrivastava and Shrivastava [ 4] assessed the out-of-pocket expenditure on health care of children younger than 5 years in rural India and found that a large part of out-of-pocket expenditure was for injury and trauma in this age group.

Campbell et al. [ 5] shared their experience in the development and implementation of an integrated primary care-behavioral health program. Their experience is particularly relevant to such practice in rural areas. The Commentary by Michael D. Fetters reflects on experience of teaching practices in undergraduate medical education in the USA and provides a comprehensive and synthesized perspective and useful reference for other countries in their efforts to develop a family medicine workforce [ 6].

Finally, the China Focus article by Luo et al. [ 7] provides a comprehensive assessment of the current workforce of general practitioners [GPs] in China and predicts the number of GPs needed in China moving forward.

I hope our international readership will find these articles informative and useful.