Syria is a country with a population of 23 millions. The first kidney transplant in Syria was performed in 1979 at Harasta Hospital in Damascus. The donor was a living relative; the recipient received simple immunosuppressants comprising of azathioprine and steroids as the transplantation took place prior to the cyclosporine era. However, the renal allograft remained functional for more than 25...

Electronic Government (hereafter eGov) is a transformative agent upon political and civic activity: it involves the provision and use of information and services by citizens, businesses and governments; and thus has the potential to increase civic efficiency and transparency; to facilitate interaction between public, private and government entities; and ultimately to promote democracy and polit...

INTRODUCTION The association between education and wealth, as fundamental determinants of health, and smoking is well-established. Yet, social inequalities have received little attention in the expanding field of tobacco research in the Arab region. In this study, we examine inequalities in cigarette smoking by education and wealth in four Arab countries. METHODS Utilizing the most recently a...

OBJECTIVES To describe trends in major communicable diseases in Syria during the ongoing conflict, and the challenges to communicable disease surveillance and control in the context of dynamic, large-scale population displacement, unplanned mass gatherings, and disruption to critical infrastructure. METHODS A rapid review of the peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed literature from 2005 to 2015...

The humanitarian situation in Syria is dire, and government forces have now violated global norms and conventions prohibiting the use of chemical weapons against civilian populations. There is a controversy about whether the responsibility to protect can be met in a context where there is not a well-articulated or plausible path from humanitarian intervention to resolution of the conflict or ev...

BACKGROUND A key aspect in halting global increase in cardiovascular events is prevention and especially prevention at an early age. Unfortunately, global data regarding cardiovascular risk factors in the young are limited. Therefore the objectives of this study were to identify the most common cardiovascular risk factors among young adults in a university setting in both developed and developi...

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is increasingly becoming a major public health problem worldwide. Estimating the future burden of diabetes is instrumental to guide the public health response to the epidemic. This study aims to project the prevalence of T2DM among adults in Syria over the period 2003-2022 by applying a modelling approach to the country's own data. METHODS Future pre...

Western citizens traveling to fight in battlefields across the world are a serious concern for authorities and security agencies in almost every Western country. The so called "foreign fighters" who come from diverse national and demographic backgrounds are joining the fights in Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. The Syrian conflict has proven to be attractive to young, Western M...