Oil jobs have big impact on heavily populated Middle East.

PIP: Labor force interdependence creates a complex pattern among countries in the Middle East. Oil-rich countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) must import two-thirds of their labor force, including 80% of their professional and technical workers. These migrant workers come from Egypt (60%), Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, and South Asia, and the money they send home is a major factor in the economies of their native lands. Many Arabs who are considered foreign laborers have spent their entire lives, or have even been born, in the oil-rich countries; they have no hope of attaining citizenship. South Asians compete with Arabs for work in the Gulf States and tend to accept less-desirable jobs and lower wages. South Asian workers migrate from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand. Middle Eastern women have social constraints on labor force participation, and most of the women working n the Gulf States are Asian; they often work as domestics. The women of the Middle East are an untapped resource for this labor market.^ieng

The Middle East population puzzle.

PIP: An overview is provided of Middle Eastern countries on the following topics; population change, epidemiological transition theory and 4 patterns of transition in the middle East, transition in causes of death, infant mortality declines, war mortality, fertility, family planning, age and sex composition, ethnicity, educational status, urbanization, labor force, international labor migration, refugees, Jewish immigration, families, marriage patterns, and future growth. The Middle East is geographically defined as Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Gaza and the West Bank, Iran, Turkey, and Israel. The Middle East's population grew very little until 1990 when the population was 43 million. Population was about doubled in the mid-1950s at 80 million. Rapid growth occurred after 1950 with declines in mortality due to widespread disease control and sanitation efforts. Countries are grouped in the following ways: persistent high fertility and declining mortality with low to medium socioeconomic conditions (Jordan, Oman, Syria, Yemen, and the West Bank and Gaza), declining fertility and mortality in intermediate socioeconomic development (Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iran), high fertility and declining mortality in high socioeconomic conditions (Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), and low fertility and mortality in average socioeconomic conditions (Israel). As birth and death rates decline, there is an accompanying shift from communicable diseases to degenerative diseases and increases in life expectancy; this pattern is reflected in the available data from Egypt, Kuwait, and Israel. High infant and child mortality tends to remain a problem throughout the Middle East, with the exception of Israel and the Gulf States. War casualties are undetermined, yet have not impeded the fastest growing population growth rate in the world. The average fertility is 5 births/woman by the age of 45. Muslim countries tend to have larger families. Contraceptive use is low in the region, with the exception of Turkey and Egypt and among urban and educated populations. More than 40% of the population is under 15 years of age. The region is about 50% Arabic (140 million). Educational status has increased, particularly for men; the lowest literacy rates for women are in Yemen and Egypt. The largest countries are Iran, Turkey, and Egypt.^ieng

Children rights in Islam from the Qur'an and Sunnah.

PIP: In Moslem countries, children make up 45% of the population. Moslems revere their children. Therefore they must raise their children to be considerate and moral. They regard children as gifts of Allah. Some believe procreation is their religious duty. In traditional societies, children signify economic resources since they work when very young to add to the family's income. Further, they provide social security for aged, unemployed, and/or ill parents. Even though high fertility rates among Moslems is showing a decline, they are still in the traditional mode of high child mortality and high fertility. Nevertheless Allah and the Prophet gave parent certain obligations to assure children's rights. Children have the right to genetic purity. Indeed if parents have a disease that could be transmitted to a child, contraception must be used. They also have a right to life which includes a fetus after having taken shape or ensoulment. Abortion is allowed if the mother's life is in danger, however. Each child has the right to legitimacy and a good name. Further, each has the right to shelter, maintenance, and health care. In addition, mothers are obligated to breast feed each child for at least 2 full years. Children have a right to separate sleeping arrangements, especially adolescents. They also have the right to financial security. Parents are obligated to see to their religious training, proper education, and training in sports and self defense of their children. In addition, they must not show preference of sons and suppression or negligence of daughters. The last right of children includes the right to legitimate support. These rights should compel parents to modify their procreation patterns. Indeed many Moslem families use the 5 capabilities to determine the number of children they should have: physical, economic, cultural, time availability, and community support.^ieng

Health systems research: approaches and pitfalls.

In recent decades there has been growing interest in health systems research, reflecting the increased complexity of services, the evolution of alternative options, mounting budgetary pressures, and rising scepticism about public programmes. The methodological and operational challenges encountered in this field are reviewed below.

Systematic analysis of research on religious variables in four major psychiatric journals, 1978-1982.

The authors conducted a systematic analysis of quantitative research on religious variables found in four psychiatric journals between 1978 and 1982. Of the 2,348 psychiatric articles reviewed, 59 included a quantified religious variable. In this research, the religious variable chosen was most often a single static measure of religion rather than multiple dynamic measures. In addition, other available religious research was seldom cited. Comparison with systematic analyses of religious research in psychology and sociology suggests that psychiatric research lacks conceptual and methodological sophistication. The data suggest that the academic knowledge and skills needed to evaluate religion have not been absorbed into the psychiatric domain.

Prevalence and reporting of induced abortion in Turkey: two survey techniques.

This study was designed and conducted to test the relative reliability of reported induced abortion obtained through a conventional survey technique (direct questioning) as compared with an estimated proportion of women with induced abortion obtained through the randomized response technique. Two independent, nationally representative samples were used, one for each approach. A total of 1,521 women were interviewed in the direct question sample, providing a 70.1 percent response rate. In the randomized response sample, 1,674 women participated in the study, representing a 72.9 percent response rate; 1,044 or 62.4 percent of these women provided usable answers. There were substantial differentials in the successful use among the subcategories of independent variables. Of the 1,044 women in the RRT sample, 33.1 percent were estimated to have had at least one induced abortion during their reproductive lives--a much higher rate than the 13.9 percent obtained from the DQ sample. The factors found to be of relevance in relation to induced abortion including age, education, place of residence, development status of the province where the woman resided, number of pregnancies and living children, occupation, and family type.

Follow-up study of patients treated by X-ray epilation for tinea capitis: psychiatric and psychometric evaluation.

To investigate the late effects of radiation to the head upon subclinical mental disorders, a psychiatric and psychometric evaluation was performed on 177 cases treated 10-29 years earlier for ringworm of the scalp by X-ray therapy (N :109) or, by chemotherapy (N :68). Analyses which controlled for educational level and family psychiatric disorders showed that, among whites, the irradiated group manifested more psychiatric symptoms and more deviant MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) scores. They were also judged more maladjusted from their MMPI profiles, and more frequently had a history of treated psychiatric disorders; however, the psychiatrist's overall rating of current psychiatric status showed only a borderline differnece between the two groups. There were no significant differences between irradiated and chemotherapy treated blacks.

Epidemiologic transition in the United States: the health factor in population change.

PIP: The general theory of epidemiologic transition is explained. The theory hypothesizes that long-term changes in health and disease patterns in any society are related to the demographic and social conditions in that country. Mortality is considered to be the major factor in population change. The theory is illustrated by a detailed consideration of birth and death trends in the U.S. Mortality decline began in the U.S. in the middle of the nineteenth century. Associated with this decline was a gradual shift from death due to infectious disease to mortality caused by degenerative, man-made, and stress-related diseases. The transition favored women, children, and whites. Medical progress was less responsible for the change than were improvement in living conditions and changes in the nature of certain diseases. The magnitude of this decline in mortality is illustrated by an analysis of 5 specific indicators of mortality. Changes in the U.S. fertility patterns were also unplanned and attributable to socioeconomic factors rather than to medical advances. Comparison of the transition in the U.S. with the same movement in England shows that the U.S. experience fits the Western or Clasical Model of the epidemiologic transition theory. This experience cannot be used as a model for the transition occurring now in the Third World. In those countries, programs organized in the context of general social development projects could be expected to influence trends in mortality and fertility.^ieng