Volume 32 Number 3

Currently 450,000 Australians suffer from chronic wounds, with average out of pocket costs of $4,000 annually and $6.6 billion in costs to the health and aged care budgets. This quarterly issue of Wound Practice and Research journal coincides with two exciting events marking the calendar of national events focused on wound care, research and education in Australia.

The first event is the Wounds Australia National Wound Awareness Week, 2-8 September 2024, which will include the launch of the Wounds Australia 5 Point Plan. This plan aims to solve the hidden epidemic of chronic wounds by extending the free wound care to people at high risk of chronic wounds, establishing a National Wound Prevention Campaign, providing expert wound support and education in primary and aged care settings and supporting the world leading Australian wound care research.

The second event is the biennial Wounds Australia National Conference, with the theme of Champions of Change: 30 Years of Action, which aims to bring together clinicians, researchers and industry professionals to discuss advancements and strategies related to wound care, share knowledge and minimise the burden of chronic wounds in Australia. The conference program consists of a series of talks on evidence-based research, case studies implementing lessons from research to practice and evidence-based hands-on workshops offering takeaway learning toolkits. The program will consist of a number of international plenary talks, including A/Prof Francis Wong discussing international innovations and the future and two recently appointed editorial board members - Prof Dimitri Beeckman discussing contemporary wound care frameworks and Prof Sebastian Probst setting the scene on education. Together with a number of national leaders in wound care and research we really look forward to hearing these talks.

This issue of Wound Practice and Research consists of a number of original research articles, reviews and case studies covering the breadth of topics in wound management including compression bandaging in venous leg ulcers, dietary interventions in diabetic wounds, understanding the impact of comorbidities, medication and skin grafting sites in wound care. We hope you enjoy this issue and look forward to your future submissions. We would also like to take this opportunity to welcome our latest editorial board members, including Prof Sebastian Probst, Prof Dimitri Beeckman, Dr Brooke Farrugia and A/Prof Virginie Blanchette. These national and international experts in wounds will bring their knowledge and expertise to the journal and also grow our international standing.

We encourage you all to collaborate, innovate and educate; helping us to raise the awareness of wounds in the community and we hope to see you at the conference in Gold Coast.

Author(s)

Peta Tehan and Zlatko Kopecki
Editors, Wound Practice and Research