[ survey of health sector from the perspective of economics and its relationship with other sectors in Iran's economy]

Introduction: Health sector is one of the most important sectors in the economy of any country with its products being on demand by individuals and households. This study was done in order to survey the health sector in Iran's economy using input-output analysis

Methods: In this analytical study all economic sectors in Iran were compared using input-output Technique. Ultimately, linkages, importance index, dependency degree of health sector were computed among the 18 aggregated sectors

Results: Health sector does not have remarkable effect on other sectors because of low backward linkage. The low forward linkage has an inappropriate place in providing intermediate data. This sector has the highest degree of dependency on industry products and the lowest on the mining sector. The first sector depending on health is the health itself followed by education whereas the real estate sector has the lowest dependency on health

Conclusion: Having a coefficient less than one compared to other sectors, the health sector has a smaller role in inducing production processes and integrating the economy. Moreover, its motivation depends on other sectors' motivation. Also, the end products of health sector are consumed in final demand form

[ comparison between Iran and the selected countries on the efficiency of expenses in health sector by data envelopment analysis [1998-2008]]

Maintaining and providing the health care are of the proprieties of each health system. Therefore, those involved in health sector should always do their best to provide high quality services. Increasing the efficiency of health system is one of the issues emphasized by the policy-makers. This study was aimed to compare between Iran and the Selected Countries on the Efficiency of expenses in Health Sector by Data Envelopment Analysis [1998 -2008]. In this applied descriptive study, the Data Envelopment Analysis [DEA] Method was used to determine the efficiency of Iranian health sector and the other selected countries [N: 40]. The findings revealed that the health sector in Iran had a technical efficiency of 77.2% during the period of 1998-2008. Iran held the 16[th] rank among all countries under study. The technical efficiency of the health sector in Iran is about 70% of the optimal level. As the mere increase in the expenses of the health sector cannot lead to improvement of health indices, health policy-makers should increase the efficiency of these expenses by means of appropriate policy making and implementation of these policies. Developing public insurance, improving life style, making organizational modifications, and paying more attention to the preventive measures can results in raising the efficiency of these expenses

Pharmaceutical industry and trade liberalization using computable general equilibrium model

Computable general equilibrium models are known as a powerful instrument in economic analyses and widely have been used in order to evaluate trade liberalization effects. The purpose of this study was to provide the impacts of trade openness on pharmaceutical industry using CGE model. Using a computable general equilibrium model in this study, the effects of decrease in tariffs as a symbol of trade liberalization on key variables of Iranian pharmaceutical products were studied. Simulation was performed via two scenarios in this study. The first scenario was the effect of decrease in tariffs of pharmaceutical products as 10, 30, 50, and 100 on key drug variables, and the second was the effect of decrease in other sectors except pharmaceutical products on vital and economic variables of pharmaceutical products. The required data were obtained and the model parameters were calibrated according to the social accounting matrix of Iran in 2006. The results associated with simulation demonstrated that the first scenario has increased import, export, drug supply to markets and household consumption, while import, export, supply of product to market, and household consumption of pharmaceutical products would averagely decrease in the second scenario. Ultimately, society welfare would improve in all scenarios. We presents and synthesizes the CGE model which could be used to analyze trade liberalization policy issue in developing countries [like Iran], and thus provides information that policymakers can use to improve the pharmacy economics

Correlation of serum alkaline phosphatase with clinicopathological characteristics of patients with oesophageal cancer

Oesophageal cancer is endemic in some regions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and efforts have been made to find factors that play a role in its prognosis. We retrospectively examined the correlation of serum alkaline phosphatase [ALP] levels with several clinicopathological characteristics of 207 cases of oesophageal carcinoma. The mean ALP level in patients with lymph node involvement was significantly higher [141 [SD 77] U/L] than with node negative cancers [116 [SD 63] U/L]. Patients with ALP level > 165 U/L were 3.29 times more likely to have lymph node involvement than patients with ALP level

[Estimation of willingness to pay for mammographic breast cancer screening tests among women in Tehran, based on contingent valuation method: 2010]

Routine mammography screening and clinical breast examination are effective measures in reducing breast cancer mortality. Contingent valuation method [CVM] is a method for willingness to pay [WTP] estimation for cost benefit analysis in economics. In this study, the mean and the function of WTP for mammographic screening for breast cancer were estimated with CVM. This cross-sectional study was descriptive-analytic in nature. A questionnaire was used to collect data from/ for the households in Tehran selected by stratified sampling in 2010. The correlation between WTP questions and the annual household income was measured for internal validity. There were other questions selected from National Health Accounts questionnaire, a standard questionnaire. The data were analyzed by STATA software [version 11] using Ramsey RESET test, David Sen - Mackinnon test, likelihood ratio test and maximum likelihood method to estimate the bivariate probit model and the marginal effects of variables with Z-ratios. The answer to the first bid was "yes" for some 46% of respondents while about 20% of respondents said "yes" to the upper amount. The probability of positive response for both bids was 0.159 and the average WTP was 300,000 Rails. Women, experiencing mammography in the last 4 years, answered "yes" to both bids with probability of 0.14. If the cost of mammogram were less than 300 thousand Rails for each person, there would be a higher WTP for screening mammography suggesting that individuals, in higher socioeconomic class, have higher WTP for mammographic screening

[Assessment of methylphenidate and propranolol combination treatment in comparison with methylphenidate and placebo among children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]]

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD] is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. Due to significance of this disorder in children and its complications, this study was done to determinate efficacy of propranolol and methylphenidate combination in treatment of ADHD and in control of adverse effects of methylphenidate. This study is a double blind-placebo control clinical trial which was conducted to compare propranolol and methylphenidate combination with placebo and methylphenidate. Thirty children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were assessed by Conner's rating scale [parent version] and psychiatric interview based on DSM-IV-TR and adverse effects check list of stimulant drugs and propranolol during 4 weeks in Ahvaz Golestan hospital child and adolescent psychiatric clinic. Rate of response in combination treatment [methylphenidate and propranolol] group was significantly greater than control group. Combination treatment was more effective in control of hyperactivity and impulsivity than inattention. The most common side effect was anorexia in both groups. Other adverse effects of methylphenidate such as increase of systolic blood pressure and pulse rate, abdominal pain, headache, insomnia and nausea were less common in combination treatment group than placebo group. The results were shown that combination of propranolol and methylphenidate is more effective in treatment of ADHD and decrease of adverse effects of methylphenidate than methylphenidate alone. This combination therapy was more effective in hyperactive-impulsive symptoms rather than inattention

[Scorpion bites in the north-western of Khuzestan province from May 2002 to December 2003]

Scorpion bites are one of the major health problems in some parts of Iran. This study has been conducted to evaluate the scorpion biting in north-western of Khuzestan province from May 2002 to December 2003. This study was a prospective case series conducted from May 2002 to December 2003. Location of the study was the Northwest region of Khuzestan Province. From all 139 cases of scorpion bites by Androctonus crassicauda came to the clinic most bites were occurred during summer. All patients were treated conservatively without injecting anti-scorpion serum and discharged without any complication. The major threat in that region is because of Androctonus crassicauda bites. Considering that there is no need to inject anti-scorpion serum for these kinds of bites, further evaluation and doing more through studies about treatment is recommended. Moreover, no relation was seen between scorpion bites and different nights of month

[Evaluation of scorpion bites in the military soldiers in North-Western part of Khuzestan Province from May 2002 to December 2003]

Background: Scorpion bites are one of the major health problems in some parts of Iran. The military are at special risk because of prolonged presence in specific and hard environmental and climatic conditions. Considering the history of wars in the country, major health problems of scorpions, and fears of the military about outcomes of the bites, it is necessary to conduct more complete studies on all aspects of this problem especially epidemiology and treatment during the peace

Materials and Methods: This study was a prospective case series conducted from May 2002 to December 2003. Location of the study was the North-West region of Khuzestan Province. All cases that came to the military clinic were entered to the study. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 12.0 software

Results: Totally, 139 cases of scorpion bites by Androctonus crassicauda came to the clinic; 66.6% in 2002 and 33.4% in 2003. Nearly 69.8% of cases were soldiers. Most bites were occurred during summer. All patients were treated conservatively without injecting anti-scorpion serum and discharged without any complication

Conclusions: The major threat in that region is because of Androctonus crassicauda bites. Considering that there is no need to inject anti-scorpion serum for these kinds of bites, further evaluation and doing more thorough studies about treatment is recommended. Moreover, no relation was seen between scorpion bites and different nights of months

[Evaluation of scorpion bites in the military soldiers in north-western part of Khuzestan Province from May 2002 to December 2003]

Background: Scorpion bites are one of the major health problems in some parts of Iran. The military are at special risk because of prolonged presence in specific and hard environmental and climatic conditions. Considering the history of wars in the country, major health problems of scorpions, and fears of the military about outcomes of the bites, it is necessary to conduct more complete studies on all aspects of this problem especially epidemiology and treatment during the peace

Materials and Methods: This study was a prospective case series conducted from May 2002 to December 2003. Location of the study was the North-West region of Khuzestan Province. All cases that came to the military clinic were entered to the study. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 12.0 software

Results: Totally, 139 cases of scorpion bites by Androctonus crassicauda came to the clinic; 66.6% in 2002 and 33.4% in 2003. Nearly 69.8% of cases were soldiers. Most bites were occurred during summer. All patients were treated conservatively without injecting anti-scorpion serum and discharged without any complication

Conclusions: The major threat in that region is because of Androctonus crassicauda bites. Considering that there is no need to inject anti-scorpion serum for these kinds of bites, further evaluation and doing more thorough studies about treatment is recommended. Moreover, no relation was seen between scorpion bites and different nights of months