It is important for the health of the children who go to primary school to have clean drinking water, appropriate toilets, healthy food available  for all and a safe place to learn and play within the school. The aim of this paper was to assess the physical environment of the primary schools across the country, taking into account the current situation of the schools and the priorities they have for improving the school physical environment. Material and methods: Home and foreign literature deposited in PubMed, Scopus and other scientific basses was used. A cross-sectional study covering 320 primary schools in RNM was conducted. The data were collected using the Rapid Assessment Tool, and they were statistically analyzed using the SPSS software package, version 22.0 for Windows (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). Qualitative analysis was performed by determining coefficients of relationships, proportions, and rates. Quantitative series were analyzed using central tendency measures as well as dispersion measures. Results: The current situation was rated as the best (75.31%) by the statement - "All buildings of the school maintain a pleasant temperature, lighting and ventilation". The lowest rated (36.56%) was the current status statement - "School canteen, store and appliances offer healthy food and drink at reasonable prices." Priority (83.44%) was the statement - "School buildings are tailored to students, they are safe, clean and promote hygiene for all students". We can see that better conditions in terms of physical environment are observed among students who attend classes in Macedonian language or are multiethnical, compared to students who attend classes in Albanian language, as well as that the urban schools compared to village schools have better conditions for work. Although the situation in the Southwest region is among the worst at the moment, the schools in this region are still striving to improve. Conclusion: According to the current situation, there is a lack of school canteens, shops and appliances near the schools that would offer healthy food and drinks. The highest priority is for school facilities to be adapted to students, to be safe, clean and to promote hygiene for all students and school staff.

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest health crisis of our time. The aim of paper is to present the results related to the use of the illicit drugs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, from the perspective of users. Materials and Methods: It was used online survey as a cross-sectional study from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, for drug users aged 18 years or older, in the 12 months prior to the survey, between March and April 2021. The main instrument was EWSD - questionnaire structured in 8 modules. Descriptive and analytical statistical methods were used. Results: The total number of respondents was 336. 59% were male, 35% female. 73% were young people between 18 to 34 years old and 26% were from 35 to 70 years old. The last year prevalence of drug use: 90% answered that they used cannabis, 76% answered that they used herbal cannabis to reduce stress, around half of them said that they use to get high, to improve sleep or to socialize. The most commonly reported setting for drug use was home, mentioned by around 77% of the respondents. Discussion: At the time when the research has been conducted, country was facing the big wave of the COVID-19 crisis, with implemented restrictions, lockdowns and reduced contacts. That fact can explain the decreased number of the use of ecstasy and cocaine powder and the increased use of herbal cannabis at home. Conclusions: COVID-19 had a huge impact on the use of drugs. Key words: use, psychoactive substances, COVID-19, Republic of North Macedonia.

BACKGROUND: Schools can contribute to improving the health and well-being of children and school staff. AIM: The aim of paper is to present the current conditions in the schools regarding the health of the school staff and the challenges for improvement. METHODS: Authors conducted a cross-sectional study in 320 primary schools – urban and rural, during 2019/2020. They used the Rapid Assessment Tool for data collection. Total scores were compared for school staff, in relation to current situation and priority. Several tests were used: Shapiro–Wilk W test, Mann–Whitney U-test, etc. A significance level of p < 0.05 was used. RESULTS: The best current situation has the indicator (2.80 ± 0.48) which refers to the fact that “The new school staff receives mentors and education that helps them in their professional development.” The second best current situation is the indicator (2.55 ± 0.57) which states that “The school supports staff in achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.” Evaluated with a high priority of about 60% are indicators: “There are sufficient resources for school staff to provide materials related to health topics that include mental health promotion” – 63.75%, “The school has a protocol for dealing with periodic staff leave as well as assisting in returning to work and re-engaging and adjusting after a period of sick leave” – 61.25% and “School promotes work-life balance, a reasonable workload and an open environment in which problems and stress at work can be discussed” – 60.94%. CONCLUSION: School staff needs appropriate school measures, which will contribute to the promotion of better health in the school environment.

Introduction: North Macedonia is among the top rated countries with high smoking prevalence with high rate of adult smoking 48.4%, and nearly 81.4% of the smokers started smoking before being 25 years of age. This paper will highlight the prevalence and public’s motivation on smoking cessation, broken down into age groups throughout the entire country of North Macedonia. Materials and Methods: The method is an analytical-descriptive method with cross sectional study, as a result to a quantitative-qualitative survey conducted among the population in 2021 with the collaboration of the Virginia Tech University and the NGO Link Across. Data from the Qualtrics housed surveys and the completed paper surveys were entered into an Excel DB. Descriptive statistics were generated for all questions. Bivariate data were analyzed using r. Results and Discussion: Smoking is widely spread among all age groups, but with a trend to decrease in numbers as the age is of a higher number - 32.2% belongs to the 18 to 24 year old group. Distribution by gender -57.8% female, 40.4% male. Younger age groups have the highest relative frequencies about the intention to quit smoking within one month. Approximately 16% of participants who were smokers and attempted to quit, were smoke free and successful in cessation. Majority of survey participants who attempted to quit were not successful and resumed smoking within 6 months. This is strong justification of smokers who attempt to quit needing a program that would guide them and maintain the attempts for cessation. Conclusions: New state programs for smoking cessation should be offered as soon as possible. Also regarding the changes in smoking protection laws, they should be analyzed; some of the changes need to be reverted regarding the law legislation of the new modern ways of tobacco use, which are on the rise all over the world. Key words: smoking cessation, motivation, North Macedonia.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis in public health. Professionals in dental institutions, dental associations and regulatory bodies face various challenges in providing dental care and prevention of oral health of the population, as well as protection of patients and practitioners from the health threat of SARS-CoV-2 virus. The aim of this paper is to present the current findings and views regarding the information on the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the need to implement protocols to protect patients and dental practitioners from the health threat posed by the virus, in compliance with medically relevant regulations.Material and methods: References from WHO, FDI and published papers in international scientific journals in this relatively short period were consulted and they presented: updated epidemiological and seroepidemiological information, review of response measures implemented in EU countries / EEA, UK and countries around the world and response options to minimize the risk of recurrence of COVID-19. Results: Viral pneumonia that appeared on February 11, 2020, was named "Coronavirus (COVID 19)" by the WHO, while the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) proposed the name "SARS-CoV-2" for phylogenetic and taxonomic analysis of this corona virus. Dentists/doctors of dental medicine should be familiar with transmission of SARS-CoV-2, how to identify patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and what measures should be taken for protection during the intervention in order to prevent its transmission. There are recommendations for infection control measures that should be followed by the dentists/doctors of dental medicine. The fact that aerosols and drops have been considered for major SARS-CoV-2 propagation routes has been emphasized. If these measures are not undertaken, then the dental office can potentially expose patients to cross-infection. Conclusion: The epidemiological situation around the world is changing dynamically, but patients should not be left without urgent medical help. Oral health team members are required to update their knowledge and skills regarding the prevention, diagnosis and management of communicable diseases that can be transmitted in a clinical setting and to stick to the standard precautions to protect patients from infections as well as protect themselves.