Welcome to Heart Asia—the official journal of the Asia Pacific Heart Association. The journal represents the combination of the best of academic and research excellence in the Asia Pacific region, the solid reputation of the well-established British Cardiovascular Society and the strength of an established and reputable medical publisher, BMJ Publishing Group.

Heart Asia's readership is focused on physicians in the Asia Pacific region, but it will have a global perspective. It has an impressive editorial board encompassing top cardiovascular physicians, surgeons and researchers from Asia, Europe and the USA.

The rapid pace of economic developments in Asia in recent decades has resulted in cardiovascular disease becoming a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in most countries in Asia. Hence, there is need for a journal to bring together data, research and leading opinions that will be relevant to the understanding and management of cardiovascular disease in this region. Heart Asia fulfils this need. In addition to commissioned papers from opinion leaders, we welcome original research articles that will be subject to the same standard of peer review as that of other BMJ journals—you can submit today online (http://submit-heartasia.bmj.com).

The launch of this journal marks a significant milestone in the development of cardiovascular medicine in the Asia Pacific region by being the first cardiovascular journal published by a major reputable publisher specifically for the Asia Pacific region. My team and I believe that Heart Asia will offer interesting and original perspectives to the practice of cardiology.

Readers are encouraged to provide feedback and offer suggestions on topics that they would want us to feature. Meanwhile, I look forward to hearing your comments on this exciting new venture.

Enjoy your read!