Abdul Abyad, MD, MPH, MBA, AGSF, AFCHSE (Editor) Abdul Abyad, MD, MPH, MBA, AGSF, AFCHSE (Editor) Abyad Medical Center & Middle East Longevity Institute Azmi Street, Abdo Center, 2nd Floor PO BOX 618, Tripoli LEBANON Tel & Fax: 961 6 443684/5/6 Email: aabyad@cyberia.net.lb Web: www.amc-lb.com

This is the second year of the launching of the journal. The progress that the journal has achieved within a year is remarkable. We look forward for further development with the help of the editorial board the production team the contributors and readers.

A paper from Bangladesh study the basic characteristics and their impacts on desired family size using data from a survey of 4500 ever-married women of which 2250 women in urban areas and 2250 women in rural areas of Rajshahi district. The study shows that the rural respondents are less educated than the urban counterparts. Husbands seem to be better educated than the wives in all areas.

A paper from Iran looked at how children get on with life, is one main source of worry - especially if the children have particular difficulties. The aim of the author was to find out the kind of worries in parents with Down syndrome children and also ranking the importance of worries in Iranian cultures.

Rahman M, Khan AR, and Mondal NI; identified the impact of some selected variables on the extent of pregnancy wastage in rural areas of Rajshahi district, The information from 750 mothers within the reproductive span (15-49 years) was collected through purposive sampling technique. The study showed that the proportion of pregnancy wastage to live births in two extreme age groups (below 20 and above 40) is tremendously ruthless whereas in other age groups, this is relatively compassionate.

A paper from Iraq looked at Counterfeit medicines ranging from products containing no active ingredients to those containing highly toxic substances. They can harm patients by failing to treat serious conditions; can provoke drug resistance and in some cases, kill. . The latest estimates elaborated by WHO, show that more than 30% of medicines in some areas in Latin America, South East Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa are counterfeit.

Dehghani K, discussed the various cultural and religious barriers towards sex education. The author stressed that in a country where HIV/AIDS prevalence is progressively rising, and where homosexuality is illegal and sex outside marriage is sinful, HIV education is challenging.

Hasan M, Liakat Ali M, Shoquilur Rahman J.A.M et al looked at the harassment commercial sex workers in Bangladesh have to face in their daily life. The paper locates the socioeconomic background of the sex workers that pushed them into this culturally and socially humiliating job. It emphatically attempts to identify the patterns of such harassment according to their nature and the people who usually commit that harassment.