title: Community health in eastern Africa--and the East African Medical Journal's contribution over seventy years.
abstract: The East African Medical Journal which started in 1923 has now reached its 70th year. To what extent has the journal focused the attention of policy and decision makers on the most relevant problems of and solutions for Community Health in Eastern Africa? To answer this question this paper surveys the Journal's publications on Community Health in four eras into which the 70 years can be subdivided. It then tries to match these publications with what has been happening in the political field and in the development of health services related to community health. The conclusion is that the journal has, in this geographical region, been keeping pace with important trends and has been a stimulus to the development of improved and more relevant services for communities. Although the predominant focus has often been on publications based on clinical research in hospital settings, it is hoped that the journal will step up even further its publication of papers related to community health and Primary Health Care. By doing so it can make an even greater contribution to the health and well being of the populations of Eastern Africa and not just to the care of individuals who gain access to medical institutions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Economic and Social Research, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Bennett
mesh_terms: D003154:Community Medicine / Q000266:history*; D003625:Data Collection; D006291:Health Policy; D049673:History, 20th Century; D007630:Kenya; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000266:history*; D011057:Politics; D011634:Public Health / Q000266:history*; D011643:Publishing / Q000266:history*