Febuary 2010- Volume 4, Issue 1

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 fourth year of the journal and we are thankful for the production team and the editorial team for their continuous support.

A paper from Bangladesh using a multivariate statistical analysis looked at Identification of Risk Factors for Post Surgical Wound Infections in Elective Operations. The authors stressed that the significant risk factors or variables which affect the abdominal surgical site infections and their incidence are: age, sex, nutrition and immunity, prophylactic antibiotics, operation type and duration, type of shaving and secondary infections.

A cross sectional study from Nigeria attempted to assess the awareness and knowledge about diabetes mellitus (DM) amongst nursing students in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A total of 144 students were enrolled for the study. The authors concluded that Knowledge and awareness of certain aspects of diabetes amongst nursing students is poor. More health education is needed to address these deficiencies in order to equip them with the knowledge to positively help their community to reduce the burden of DM on society.

Another paper from Bangladesh attempted to identify the factors as related with the maternal and child health care services at Kurigram district, Bangladesh. Medical check up during pregnancy period, tetanus toxoid vaccination and giving sal-milk to the new born babies have been considered as the maternal and child health care services in this study. To promote the use of health care services among the mothers, their socio-economical and demographical status should be improved. The policy makers need to take proper initiativeS for the improvement of reproductive health of the rural women in Bangladesh.

A review paper looked at a guide for Evaluating Childhood Asthma Programs. The author stressed that evaluating childhood asthma programs is an important step for their successful implementation. After thorough literature review the conclusion is that evaluating asthma programs is an important step for their successful implementation.

A cross sectional study from India attempted to find the prevalence of various contraceptive methods in slum populations and to evaluate men's opinions on condom usage. The authors concluded that men are showing an increased interest in family planning affairs and can play a vital role in deciding the size of the family. Hence their participation has to be encouraged.