The cultural background of web users is argued to play a key role in the way they interact with and perceive the usability and usefulness of websites. The objective of this case study is to identify Arab users’ preferences and expectations of the design of Arabic websites in order to examine whether these preferences are consistent with their cultural-specific attributes as described and predic...

With many drugs coming to market and post-marketing surveillance limited to industry, there is a need for an integrated common approach to pharmacovigilance (PV) in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR)/Arab region. The first meeting of the EMR/Arab countries for PV involved ten of the 22 states and revealed how these countries are learning from and working with each other in order to achieve ...

BACKGROUND There is a dire need in the Arab world and Middle Eastern countries to reform the higher education, research policy and planning for improving the quality to meet the needs of modern society. The impact factor (IF) was developed in the 1960s by Eugene Garfield of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) in the USA. It has been extensively used for more than 40 years. The SCImag...

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 7.6 million deaths mounting to around 13% of all deaths in 2008 (Globocan, 2008). Gynecological malignancies account for 9% of all female cancers worldwide, cervical cancer is the leading gynecological cancer worldwide represents 4% of all female cancers. Half million new cervical cancer cases diagnosed each year, half of them died as...

BACKGROUND Burnout among healthcare professionals is one of the key challenges affecting health care practice and quality of care. This systematic review aims to (1) estimate the prevalence of burnout among health care professionals (HCP) in Arab countries; and (2) explore individual and work-related factors associated with burnout in this population. METHODS Multiple electronic databases wer...

Higher, especially university level, education has a distinctly important role in the education system and in the knowledge acquisition system in general. However, the deteriorating state of higher education in Arab countries, particularly in quality, has become one of the hallmarks of underdevelopment by contemporary criteria. If such deterioration were to continue, it is feared that higher ed...

The economic situation in the Arab countries is due to several factors as the political crisis in a socio-economic vulnerability. Political changes are usually accompanied by a drop in production, a deterioration of macroeconomic balances, a high level of poverty, an appearance of economic corruptions and a structural increase in unemployment. In addition, the expansion of terrorism is a main i...

In the first of 5 papers about health systems and services in the Arab countries, the historical development of health systems over the past 3 decades is reviewed. The evolution of health care has been impressive with major strides accomplished by governments to improve the health status of their respective population. However, the progress has been uneven in view of the differentials in resour...

51 Chapter 1 emphasized the importance of knowledge acquisition as a cornerstone of human development. This chapter focuses on building human capabilities for knowledge acquisition in Arab countries through education. The assessment of the state of education using such indicators as enrolment and illiteracy rates and per capita expenditure reveals tangible achievements but also significant area...

AIDS stigma is a challenge to controlling HIV/AIDS epidemic especially in more conservative cultures. This study explored the impact of knowledge about HIV and AIDS, and the impact of shame, on the stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Arab world. Survey data were collected from 277 female college students in 3 Arab countries: Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan. Only in Bahrain was knowl...