Background and objectives: Hemorrhoids is the most prevalent rectal disease which is defined as enlargement of ano-rectal cushions.  Intensified pressure on vascular plexus of hemorrhoids seems playing a chief role in the development of hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoidectomy is an important surgery to relieve discomforts of patients that suffer from symptomatic hemorrhoids. This review ...

Background: While the use of herbal medicines is common in Tehran, there is scant data regarding various aspects of the use of such medicines during pregnancy. Objective: The frequency of the use of herbal medicines in a group of pregnant women in Tehran and their attitude to the use of such medicines were evaluated. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 600 pregnant women were studied. A...

BACKGROUND Since the early 1990s, specialty hospitals have been continuously increasing in number. A moratorium was passed in 2003 that prohibited physicians' referrals of Medicare patients to newly established specialty hospitals if the physician has ownership stakes in the hospital. Although this moratorium expired in effect in 2007, many are still demanding that the government pass new polic...

The perception of emergency medicine as a defined specialty may vary widely in different locations around the world. While no single emergency medical system can fulfil the needs of all countries, there are three main models of delivery: the European model, the Anglo-American model, and the neglect model. This article reviews aspects of emergency medical systems around the world and compares th...

The 2011 United Nations (UN) General Assembly Political Declaration on Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) brought NCDs to the global health agenda. Essential medicines are central to treating chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. Our study aimed to quantify access to essential medicines for people with chronic conditions in five lowand middle-income countri...

Critical to the successful implementation of a national medicines strategy is evaluation of the policy and ongoing monitoring of medicine use. Methods for monitoring medicines use within countries vary depending on the country and its stage of medicines policy development and implementation. In this paper, we provide four case studies on monitoring medicines use to support national medicines po...

National medicines policies can aid the safe use of medicines by ensuring availability of quality products, appropriate information for prescribers and consumers, strengthening the national medicines regulatory capacity and improving access to expert advice and authoritative laboratory testing. We report the findings of a workshop on medicines safety, which focused on the Asia Pacific region. P...