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pISSN: 2251-6085
eISSN: 2251-6093
Chairman & Editor-in-Chief:
Dariush D. Farhud, MD, Ph.D., MG.
This journal is a member of, and subscribes to the principles of, the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). 
Vol 2 No 4 (1973)
Articles
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In planning any vaccination program, priority should be given to such programs within the country’s overall health plan. This judgment is made on the basis of indices on morbidity, mortality, vulnerability, feasibility and cost-benefit/effectiveness analyses. The application of mathematical / epidemiological models and the use of simulation and goal –seeking techniques and monograms are of great value and will provide information on health benefits which are either quantifiable or excessively difficult to quantify. To illustrate, two examples from Iran’s measles vaccination program are cited. In a five-year , country –wide program with 37% coverage and $3,828,136 cost ($1.09/unit), 214,733 cases were prevented and 37,274 lives were saved, resulting in $10,736,650 case-treatment, 1,708,878 life-years and 644,200 school-days saved . The estimated cost of one prevented case is $18.62. A four-year specific campaign covering 55% of the at-risk labor-insured population , costing $59,444 (0.85/unit) resulted in 1,728 cases prevented, 61 lives(2,867 years) and 5,214 school –days and $152.327 case-treatment saved. The cost of one prevented case is estimated at $34.20.
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The Anopheles stephensi mysorensis originating from Kazeroon area south of Iran, which had been maintained at the laboratory conditions of at 70% relative humidity for almost 150 generations, were subjected to cytogenetical analyses. The ‘instant’ landmarks in the squash preparations of the salivary gland chromosomes are indicative of cytotaxonomic characteristics of the species. The characteristic features of the banding patterns are as follows: Darkly stained oblique bands at Zones 4A and 4B , also the terminal ringed bands at zone 6C: The asynaptic loop at zone 20 and its point of attachment to 2R chromosome; the puffs at zones 21, 24, 27& 28 of 21 chromosome; the well defined puff at zone 19 of 2R chromosome , with its characteristic terminal endings; darkly–stained thick bands at zones32, 33 & 36; weekly-stained zone 37 and funnel shaped terminal ending of 3L chromosome at zone 46.
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In 5 villages in Isfahan area, with a population of 1368, rodents were successfully controlled using poisened bait with Zinc phospheid, with 300 meters of houses and built up area. In another 5 villages with a population of 1471, rodent burrows were dusted with DDT within the same distance, without any effect on sandflies. A third group of 5 villages was kept as control. The incidence of cutaneous leishmaniasis was almost the same in these three groups of villages, although rodent control was very effective. This shows that either the flight of sandflies was more than 300 meters of there are other important factors affecting the transmission.
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A.sacharovi, which is one of the main malaria vectors of the Palearchic region, is resistant to DDT in Greece (1949), Lebanon (1954), Turkey (1959), Syria and the U.S.S.R. (1972).The first record of A. sacharovi resistance to DDT in Iran was given in 1959 from the Kazeroon area, followed by Izeh (1969) and Meshkin-Shahr (1970).This study (1973) urgently advises speedy measures to eliminate the present foci of DDT –resistant A.sacharovi, to distinguish the checking of the susceptibility level of A. sacharovi in other areas of its distribution in Iran.
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This study on abortion was carried out at Farah Maternity Hospital on the basis of : 1) the total admission recorded between 1960-1967 and 2) an interview questionnaire on 1009 women who had been referred for complications of termination of pregnancy, induced or spontaneous , between October 1968 and March 1969.There was an increase of 33.2% in admission for deliveries and 28.6% for abortions. The apparent increase in admission signifies a greater use of hospital facilities for deliveries; whiles the increase in admission for abortion, though not as high as the admission for delivery, still may be an indication of a trend towards more use of abortion for unwanted pregnancies. The percentage of abortions in this study ranged between 11-17% but it is about 15% for recent years. The increasing rate of abortion after the year 1966 (the beginning year of the family planning program) shows that this program has not yet been very effective in preventing unwanted pregnancies in the lower socioeconomic groups.
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The process of planning and initiating health services development has been described as conceived and experienced by the working group of the Health Services Development Research Project in Iran. The technical steps (conceiving and describing the health services system, development of plans, preparatory step and implementation) as well as political support needed are defined and described. The importance of clear definition of the system is stressed as the basis for situational analysis and plans. Data are presented to illustrate findings during field observations in the province of West Azarbaijan. As a mechanism to initiate the proposed changes, the choice of direction of development and objectives, as well as to focus on critical and productive elements of the existing system specifically building of a new front-line of primary health care services , have been proposed. The “functional unity” of agencies and organizations participating in health delivery system and management tools for perpetuating of development, complete the plans. After discussion of alternative plans for development it is concluded that at present it is essential to look at service systems comprehensively, use the existing services as the point of departure aim at adequate coverage and provide service as required by the population and not as conceived by professional pressure groups.
