Why is physical activity important? Physical activity is critical for population health. There is overwhelming evidence that physical inactivity is a risk factor for noncommunicable diseases, premature death and disability. It is responsible for 3.2 million deaths globally each year and is estimated to be the main cause of around 27% of diabetes, 30% of ischaemic heart disease and 21–25% of bre...

The olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae, is the most important pest of olives in olive growing regions worldwide, especially in the Mediterranean basin and North America. Despite the economic importance of the olive fly, the colonization route of this species is unclear. We used nuclear microsatellite markers and mitochondrial DNA to provide information about the population structure and invasion...

Recent studies have focused on the relationship between the marine fauna of the Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, but within the Atlantic, little is known about genetic relationships between populations of the Macaronesian islands. In this study, we tested whether the paleo-climatology and paleo-oceanography of the region could predict the genetic relationships among three Eastern Atl...

The wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) is a migratory species in the western Mediterranean wintering in the Gulf of Guinea region, West Africa. In autumn and spring, this species, along with the populations breeding in Ireland and Britain, uses the Italian peninsula as its main axis of migration. From the data of captured birds at several ringing stations in the western Mediterranean (Balea...

The popularity and acceptance of Traditional/Complementary and Alternative Medicine (TCAM) in the treatment of various ailments has persisted over the millennia. The formulations are so made as to minimize the untoward effects and enhance synergism, thereby increasing the efficacy of the preparation as a whole. The idea was perhaps based on the logic of humoral concept and study of temperaments...

1Associate Director Research, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (Correspondence to A.B. Miller: ab.miller@sympatico.ca). Breast cancer is the most important cancer in women in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), being the number one cancer in 16 of the 22 countries. In many technically advanced countries mammography sc...

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 ...

Zika virus disease is caused by a RNA flavivirus transmitted to humans by the Aedes mosquito, the same type of mosquito that transmits dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. Only 20% of people with Zika virus infection show symptoms, which include mild fever, skin rash and conjunctivitis. These symptoms normally last for 2–7 days. Currently, there is no vaccine to prevent the disease or any spec...

Acknowledgement of the work of Dr Mohammad Haytham Khayat ............................................................................................................................................................103 Editorial Child mortality in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: challenges and opportunities Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, FRCPCH, FCPS, FAAP ..................................