Global Health Strategies in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Unprecedented Threats

Global health is evolving as a discipline aiming at exploring needs and offering equitable health services for all people. Over the past four decades, several global initiatives have been introduced to improve the accessibility of primary health care (PHC) and solve most health issues at this level. Historically, the 1978 Alma-Ata and 2018 Astana Declarations were perhaps the most important documents for a comprehensive approach to PHC services across the world. With the introduction of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, developments in all spheres of human life and multi-sectoral cooperation became the essential action targets that could contribute to improved health, well-being, and safety of all people. Other global initiatives such as the Riyadh Declaration on Digital Health and São Paulo Declaration on Planetary Health called to urgent action to employ advanced digital technologies, improve health data processing, and invest more in research management. All these initiatives are put to the test in the face of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and other unprecedented threats to humanity.     

A Scopus-Based Analysis of Publication Activity in Kazakhstan from 2010 to 2015: Positive Trends,Concerns, and Possible Solutions

The article analyzes the publication activity of scientific authors from Kazakhstan based on Scopus and SCImago Journal & Country Rank data from 2010 to 2015. The number of indexed multidisciplinary and medical articles from the country has been steadily growing from 2011 onward and this can be due to the adoption of the new Law on Science in that year. Several regulatory legal acts have been issued in recent years aimed at improving the quality of local journals and the international recognition of academic degrees and titles. Publication activity of scientific authors from Kazakhstan was found to be higher than that from other countries in the Central Asian region. However, there are still many unresolved issues related to the English language barrier, lack of indexing status of local journals, and poor topical education on science writing and editing. As such, the number of articles published in ''predatory'' journals remains sizable, and there are concerns over authors'' negligence and plagiarism. The global solution to the discussed problems may be achieved by educating researchers, authors, reviewers, and editors.