Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: HIV, tuberculosis and malaria (HTM) services receive financial support from the Global Fund and need to plan for sustainability and transition from external funding. AIM: To recommend actions for addressing key sustainability and transition issues in 15 countries receiving Global Fund grants in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean (EMR) Region. METHODS: We reviewed documents, interviewed key informants, and conducted case studies in Sudan and Tunisia to highlight key considerations for sustainability and transition from Global Fund that is tailored to the EMR and the health system building blocks...

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine is widely used in Saudi Arabia. One of the common practices is the use of camel urine alone or mixed with camel milk for the treatment of cancer, which is often supported by religious beliefs. AIMS: To observe and follow-up cancer patients who insisted on using camel urine, and to offer some clinically relevant recommendations. METHODS: We observed 20 cancer patients (15 male, 5 female) from September 2020 to January 2022 who insisted on using camel urine for treatment...

BACKGROUND: Burns is one of the most important causes of death, and the best way to reduce mortality due to burns is prevention. AIMS: To investigate the factors responsible for mortality due to burns in south-western Islamic Republic of Iran. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 400 burns patients admitted to different wards of Ayatollah Taleghani Trauma and Burns Hospital, Ahvaz, Islamic Republic of Iran, from October 2020 to September 2021...

BACKGROUND: Lifestyle changes in Saudi Arabia have affected the dietary intake of adolescents, who now consume more unhealthy foods. AIMS: We assessed the dietary intake of female Saudi Arabian adolescents living in Arar. METHOD: In this randomised cluster study, female students were selected randomly from assigned schools to form the intervention (n = 68) and control (n = 70) groups. Initially, a 60-minute seminar was held for mothers of students in the intervention group...

BACKGROUND: The relationship between gender disparity and the risk of developing noncommunicable disease and other social health determinants has not been well researched in the Islamic Republic of Iran. AIMS: To assess how gender disparity contributes to the overall risk of noncommunicable disease in the Islamic Republic of Iran. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of data on about 11 000 adults aged 15-69 years from the 2011 WHO STEPwise approach to NCD risk factor surveillance (STEPS) survey in the Islamic Republic of Iran...

BACKGROUND: Headache is the most common disorder of the central nervous system, and one of the most prevalent noncommunicable diseases. AIMS: We aimed to determine factors associated with chronic headache among adults in the Islamic Republic of Iran. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study that recruited 10 063 participants from the baseline data of the Ravansar noncommunicable disease cohort study in western Islamic Republic of Iran in 2021...

BACKGROUND: A 1985 law in the Islamic Republic of Iran integrated all health-related educational institutions into the Ministry of Health and established the Ministry of Health and Medical Education to set policies. AIMS: We aimed to classify the value concept of the policies that prioritized and to develop a conceptual value-based framework, for the Islamic Republic of Iran's healthcare and medical education systems. METHODS: We conducted this qualitative study using a critical, thematic content analysis of value-based statements and policy documents on health and the development of medical education published from 2009 to 2019 in the Islamic Republic of Iran...

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We cannot prevent cancer, detect it early, diagnose, treat, and palliate it without reliable data. Continuous, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of cancer-related data are essential to effectively plan, implement and evaluate cancer control activities and policies. Enhancing routine health information systems to ensure that cancer-related data are well captured is essential, just as fostering functioning cancer surveillance systems, particularly population-based cancer registries (1,2). Population-based cancer registries play a critical role in the planning of national cancer control and prevention strategies, monitoring and evaluation of cancer care services, as well as cancer epidemiological and clinical research (1)...

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BACKGROUND: Priority-setting for early access to vaccines during a pandemic optimizes the impact of vaccine rollout, however, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have little experience in policymaking on this. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the national clinical ethics committee developed a policy for early access to COVID-19 vaccines with support from the national committee on COVID-19 vaccine. AIMS: This paper reports the process and results of a national COVID-19 vaccine priority-setting in the Islamic Republic of Iran and discusses its ethical and cultural aspects...

BACKGROUND: Rejection, hesitancy and low uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine are major public health challenges in Saudi Arabia. AIMS: To address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and rejection at the King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) using evidence-based strategies. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered electronically to participants at KSAU-HS to understand the reasons for vaccine hesitancy or rejection and develop an evidence-informed vaccination plan...

BACKGROUND: The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) implemented a leadership programme on epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response, specific to the COVID-19 pandemic, during the second half of 2021. AIMS: To highlight the leadership role played by the WHO Jordan Country Office during the COVID-19 pandemic in collaboration with UNSSC. PROGRAMME: The WHO Jordan country office successfully leveraged the expertise of UNSSC to implement a leadership training to prepare key stakeholders in Jordan for the response to COVID-19 and similar pandemics or outbreaks...

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased awareness of the need for high-quality and timely evidence to support policy- and decision-making in emergency situations. AIMS: To describe the experiences of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), Islamic Republic of Iran, in adopting evidence-informed policymaking during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, NIHR institutionalized a rapid response system that was backed up by evidence-informed policy- and decision-making...

BACKGROUND: Vaccine effectiveness studies provide evidence on the effects of vaccines for preventing disease and the adverse outcomes following a vaccination rollout programme in a country or a specific population. AIMS: To document the technical and capacity-building support provided by WHO to countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to conduct COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness studies. METHODS: WHO implemented interventions to enhance the capacity of EMR countries to conduct COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and similar epidemiological studies...

BACKGROUND: No single method of health technology assessment (HTA) can meet all the policy- and decision-making needs in a country. However, there should be minimum criteria for performing HTA worldwide, and many HTA agencies have reached a consensus on this. AIM: This study aimed to assess the quality of HTA reports in the Islamic Republic of Iran. METHOD: We examined all the HTA research reports published by the Iranian HTA office up to 2020, using the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment checklist for quality assessment...

BACKGROUND: Adapted clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are based on existing recommendations from other developers. AIMS: To produce a mapping summary of the methods used for adaptation of CPGs in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). METHODS: We conducted a literature review of studies describing adaptation of CPGs in the EMR. Databases and official websites were searched for studies published between 2006 and 2022. We excluded de novo development of CPGs and adaptation of other types of guidelines such as public health guidelines...

BACKGROUND: Affordability, accessibility and quality of services provided by a primary healthcare system can contribute significantly to the mitigation and management of a pandemic or disease outbreak. A strong primary healthcare system will mitigate the pressure on health systems during crises. AIMS: We aimed to identify the specific capabilities required to establish a resilient primary healthcare system that could respond effectively to a health crisis, and highlight any research gaps...