PHA-Exchange> Medical journals: bias against diseases of the poor

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From: <EQUIDAD at LISTSERV.PAHO.ORG>

> Medical journals: evidence of bias against the diseases of poverty
>
> Richard Horton
> The Lancet - Volume 361, Number 9359 - 01 March 2003
>
> Available online at:

<http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol361/iss9359/full/llan.361.9359.editoria
> l_and_review.24792.1>
>
> "......A report from the WHO recently described under-representation of
> individuals from low-income and middle-income countries on the editorial
> boards of ten leading psychiatry journals. Shekhar Saxena and colleagues
> concluded that this "unsatisfactory situation" needed to be corrected,
given
> the global importance of mental health. But this issue goes well beyond
> editorial boards and mental health. There is widespread systematic bias in
> medical journals against diseases that dominate the least-developed
regions
> of the world. Is this an example of what some have described as the
> institutional racism that afflicts parts of medicine today?
>
> Some of the world's leading general medical journals include the Annals of
> Internal Medicine, BMJ, JAMA, New England Journal of Medicine, and The
> Lancet. These five titles lay claim to their global legitimacy for many
> reasons--weekly or biweekly publication, long-established histories, the
> credibility and power of their owners, large numbers of full-time
editorial
> staff, membership of the International Committee of Medical Journal
Editors,
> and influential joint statements. Their editorial boards matter because
they
> help to shape the personalities and policies of these journals. The
> composition of editorial boards sends a signal to authors and readers
about
> a journal's interests. General medical journals follow the same patterns
as
> their psychiatry counterparts (panel). Most board members come from
nations
> with a high human development index. ..."
>
> Saxena S, Levav I, Maulik P, Saraceno B.
> How international are the editorial boards of leading psychiatry journals?
> Lancet -  Vol. 361 February 15 2003  at:
>
http://pdf.thelancet.com/pdfdownload?uid=llan.361.9357.correspondence.24540.
> 1