GMJ 2025 Annual Review: Key Findings from Georgian Public Health Research

The Georgian Medical Journal’s 2025 annual review highlights key findings from Georgian and South Caucasian public health research published over the past year — a curated window into what Georgian science is finding.

“The purpose of a national journal is not only to publish research. It is to make visible what a country knows about itself.”

Pkhakadze G. GMJ Annual Review Preface 2025. Tbilisi: GMJ; 2025.[1]

Introduction

This annual review synthesises key research themes and findings from articles published in the Georgian Medical Journal (GMJ) in 2024–2025, contextualised against the broader public health evidence base. The review covers five thematic areas: communicable disease and AMR, non-communicable disease burden, health workforce, health system reform, and maternal and child health. Forty-eight original research articles, 11 systematic reviews, and 14 case reports were published in GMJ’s 2024 volume.[1]

Key Findings: Communicable Disease

A significant finding from GMJ 2024 was a multicentre study of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) in six Tbilisi hospitals, which found a CRKP rate of 34% among Klebsiella isolates — significantly above the EU average of 21% — with evidence of clonal spread within the studied facilities.[3] This finding, corroborated by parallel ECDC surveillance data, has direct implications for empirical antibiotic prescribing protocols in Georgian hospitals and prompted the NCDC to issue updated AMR management guidance in January 2025.

Key Findings: NCDs

A cohort study following 2,400 hypertensive patients enrolled in the UHC programme found that blood pressure control (defined as BP below 140/90 mmHg) was achieved in only 38% of patients at 12-month follow-up — substantially below the WHO target of 50% and the EU average of 44%.[4] Medication adherence was identified as the primary modifiable factor, with 52% of patients reporting at least one week of medication non-use in the previous three months, citing cost, side effects, or supply interruption.

Figure 1. GMJ 2024 Most-Read Articles by Theme (open-access downloads)

Source: GMJ open-access download statistics 2024 (Crossref and direct site metrics).[1,2]

Figure 2. GMJ Citation Distribution 2024 (Crossref: citations received by articles published 2021–2024)

Conclusion

The 2024 GMJ volume demonstrates a maturing research ecosystem: multi-centre study designs, prospective cohort studies, and systematic reviews are increasingly replacing single-centre descriptive studies. Citation counts, while modest, are growing — and the landmark CRKP study attracted citations from ECDC surveillance reports, signalling entry into the international evidence base. The priority for GMJ’s 2025–2026 development is DOAJ indexing (application under review) and a dedicated rapid communications track for outbreak and epidemiological surveillance data, building on the precedent set during Georgia’s 2024 respiratory illness season.

References

1. Pkhakadze G (Editor-in-Chief). Georgian Medical Journal Annual Review 2025. Tbilisi: GMJ/PHIG; 2025. doi:10.66636/gmj.2025.annual
2. Crossref. GMJ Citation Statistics 2021–2025 (DOI prefix 10.66636). Available from: https://www.crossref.org
3. Kvaratskhelia N, Tsuladze L, Goguadze K, et al. Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in Tbilisi teaching hospitals: a multicentre cross-sectional study. Georgian Med J. 2024;5(3):1–9. doi:10.66636/gmj.2024.05.03.001
4. Beridze N, Chikhladze N, Pkhakadze G. Blood pressure control among hypertensive patients enrolled in Georgia’s UHC programme: a 12-month cohort study. Georgian Med J. 2024;5(2):12–20. doi:10.66636/gmj.2024.05.02.012

Prof. Giorgi Pkhakadze, MD, MPH, PhD

Professor of Public Health, David Tvildiani Medical University | Chair, Public Health Institute of Georgia | Founder, Accréditation Sans Frontières

Published on behalf of the PHIG Analysis and Intelligence Team · Tbilisi, Georgia

PHIG

Public Health Institute of Georgia