Journal of Health Policy and Sustainable Health
Volume:2 Issue: 1, Winter 2015

In recent years, the use of economic sanctions has been developed as a popular foreign policy tool. Since the 20th century, economic sanctions were used against various countries like Cuba, Palestine (Gaza strip), Iraq, Iran, Syria and recently Russia. Although several studies have suggested that economic pressures do not often succeed in achieving their policy goals, but it’s effects on civilians health conditions can be significant (1-3).Economic sanctions can threaten the public health situation through limiting access to minimum basic needs especially in vulnerable groups such as the mothers and children of poor families. Adopting smart sanctions on medical equipments, pharmaceutical and agricultural products could directly threaten the access to public health services (for example the 1960 U.S sanctions against Cuba) (4, 5). Also evidence have indicated that even general trade sanctions on none medical goods such as fuel and other raw materials used for water and electricity supply systems have significant effects on public health situation in countries like Iraq (6). Such situations can increase maternal and infant mortality rates and can lead to the incidence of infectious diseases, especially among vulnerable groups. It is estimated that sanctions have been among the most important causes of at least 100,000 to 227,000 cases of child deaths during August 1991 to March 1998 in Iraq (7).Economic sanctions expected to affect public health more significantly in small and single product economies based on oil (5). In such countries, reduction in oil sailing as result of sanctions can lead to reduction of government capacity to financing health care system and therefore increasing share of household in financing healthcare. Such circumstances can reduce household’s financial access to health care to extent that they ignores some necessary health care services (8,9). Therefore even when sanctions is designed in a way that medical products are exempt from sanctions list, still can have significant effect on access to health care services. Therefore using economic sanctions as a cruel strategy can directly and indirectly threaten public health situation. While world public opinions criticize the humanity and public health effects of economic sanctions, still sanctions have been used as a popular policy. However knowledge about the health effects of economic sanctions is limit and still there are some important questions: How much is the impact of economic sanctions on health? What are its long-term and short-term effects on public health? What groups of people are at more risk this situation? Answering to above questions needs more research and attention in scientific society.

During the recent two decades, the world health organization and the World Association of Psychology have started the campaign for reducing the stigma associated with mental patients in more than 20 countries. The aim of this study is to survey the extent of success and the effects of the campaign on reducing the stigmatization among mental patients. The study was conducted as a survey with a population of all the health and treatment staff in the hospitals that run a psychiatry ward. The sample group consisted of employees from two hospitals. Through Cochrane sampling method, 134 of the employees were adopted as sample group. For data gathering, a questionnaire was employed and the gleaned data were analyzed using T-test and the Pierson tests. Comparing with other patients hospitalized in special hospitals, the participants in two hospitals tended to have more positive and welcoming attitudes regarding themselves and interactions with mental ward patients, acceptance mental patients in social activities, the treatments of the mental patients. The staff in general hospitals or psychiatric hospitals, moreover, kept identical attitudes toward mental patients. Provision of mental health services in social-oriented fashion or in general hospital settings attenuates stigmatization attitudes toward mental patients and their families. This per se results in provision of better and services for this group of patients at earlier stages of the disease.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA); an inflammatory disease is the health problem in all human societies around the world. Despite all efforts to etiological diagnosis, there is no punctual laboratory method. Currently the causative inflammatory diseases are rolled by microbial antigens and superantigens are undeniable. Our hypothesis is that the Staphylococcal superantigens may be responsible for the seronegative RA disease. Thus, a diagnostic method for RA patients is essential. The aim of this study was to introduce a laboratory method for the detection of Staphylococcal superantigens in RA patient’s synovial fluid. In this study, sixty synovial fluid samples from patients with RA were studied. SDS- PAGE analysis was performed continue to purifying stage. Using specific antibodies to Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins A and B ELISA plates were designed separately and the all samples were assayed. Then, the results were confirmed by western blotting. The results were subject to ANOVA and Chi-Square analysis by SPSS ver. 16. The results indicated that, the synovial fluids electrophoresis of product centrifugal tubes Amicon- Ultracel - 10KDa; 30KDa and 50KDa showed the presence of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin proteins in the molecular weight range indicated. Immunoblotting also confirmed their existence. The ELISA results showed that in 48% of samples were found in synovial fluid of patients with Staphylococcus aureus superantigens. The significant level of results was P ≤ 0.05. The survey results indicated that almost half of the synovial fluid samples have Staphylococcal enterotoxins A or B accommodation. The main hypothesis of this study was confirmed. This means that, the results of this study indicates that adding to the existing method for superantigens identifying in seronegative RA patients may provide a new diagnostic tool. However, the probability relationship between disease and these superantiges needs further studies. This finding can alter diagnosis and treatment methods of the RA disease. As a new health policy technique in order to diagnose the disease of patients.

Advanced oxidation process is one of the most important techniques for the elimination of the wide ranges of organic pollutants from industrial wastewater with high efficiency. This research investigated Methylene Blue (MB) decolorization from synthetic wastewater using H2O2/UV as an advanced oxidation processes. Photo oxidation decolorization was conducted in a batch reactor with a shaking mode. Several arranges of the 8-watt UVC lamps were used for the process induction and the effects of operational variables including UV irradiation intensity, reaction time, initial concentrations of MB and H2O2were examined. The results of this research show that the efficiency of process using H2O2/UV increased with increasing the UV irradiation intensity and H2O2 concentration. The best results for the removal of 3, 5 and 10 mg/l MB was performed with 1 Mmol of H2O2, 2400 µW/cm2 UV-C irradiation time within 3.5, 4.5 and 10.5 minutes of reaction time. Advanced oxidation processes using H2O2 and UVC irradiation can be used for MB decolorization which can be considered for the treatment of colored wastewaters including textile industries effluents.

This research illustrates microbial instability in hospital water line from point of heterotroph bacteria (HPC) amplification in accordance with residual chlorine, pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO) and alkalinity (Alk). Hundred-fifty samples were collected from hot and cold tap water systems of three selected hospitals. Residual chlorine, pH and temperature were determined promptly in place; HPC was cultured on R2Aculture media by spread plate method. Dissolved oxygen (DO) and alkalinity (Alk) was determined by Winkler and photometric methods, respectively. HPC was detected in 96% of the samples and fifty-two percent had higher bacteria than the recommended standards and HPC density in samples was 947±998 CFU/ml. The highest contamination was detected in cooling systems, gynecological, NICU and sonography ward (1500-2000 CFU/ml) and the lowest was inendoscopy, medical laboratory and drug store (125-175 CFU/ml). Spearman correlation and multivariate linear regression revealed that HPC density in cold water had negative correlation with Cl2, temperature and DO and positive correlation with pH and Alk. In warm water, HPC density had negative correlation with temperature, pH, and DO and positive correlation with Cl2 and Alk. Chi2 test revealed that higher densities (>500 CFU/ml) in cold water was more frequent than warm water (OR: 2.3). HPC has unexpected distribution in water. Occurrence of high densities of HPC can affect the presence of hazardous bacteria; therefore, it is advised to implement the routine test of HPC monitoring with indicator bacteria and remark the effective efforts for hospitals’ water disinfection for quality assurance.

This study estimates the relationship between the number of medals gained by a country and some health and economic indicators. We want to test whether good health affect winning more medals in Olympic Games. Total medals were regressed on total population, urban population, adult population, health expenditure and gross domestic product (GDP). The sample consisted of the 84 winner countries at the London 2012 Olympic Games that have won at least one medal. In this regression model, the dependent variable was the number of medals and it was a nonnegative integer. We used a Poisson non-linear regression for analyzing the data. The data for this study were including Olympic medal counts and socioeconomic indicators. We obtained the medal data from Official website of the Olympic and the official book of Olympic Games. Our source for population, GDP and health expenditure data was World Health Organization and World Bank for each country for the year of the London 2012 Olympic Games. There was no statistically significant relationship between urban population and number of medals. But other explanatory variables were significant. By calculating marginal effects, we found that adult population, health expenditure and GDP had more effect on winning medals. There was positive significant relation between the number of Olympic medals and health expenditure and GDP. It means a wealthier country (even with less population) that spends more percent of GDP on health can gain more medals (like Netherlands with 20 medals) rather than a low income country with large population and less health expenditure (like India with 6 medals). Also the greater adult population (not total population) of a country can lead to produce good athletes and, therefore, cause to win more medals.

Determining health research priorities helps policymakers to effectively make targets in health care systems. This research is a descriptive- cross-sectional study that has done in 2012, in order to determine priorities according to four main areas: Stewardship, Creating Resources, Financing and Delivering services in health care systems. Overall 26 priorities has been identified in four areas. Explore the role of private sector in the health system and a comparative study of payment system in another countries have the most means in health care research priorities. For efficient use of financial resources must do research based on health sector needs.