The population of 2 representative villages in Abu-al-Khasib field practice area of the College of Medicine, Basrah in Southern Iraq was surveyed during 1979 for baseline information relating to demographic and health characteristics. The total population covered was 3399. Women of child bearing age together with children under 15 years of age accounted for 68% of the population. The birth rate was 49 and death rate, 14.5 per 1000. Nearly 10% of the morbidity was evident among women of child bearing age. The enquiry revealed a general awareness concerning the existing health care facilities available in the area. Local health centres were utilised mainly for treatment of childhood illnesses. Only 12% of the mothers used them for care during pregnancy.

BACKGROUNDMeta-analysis from 35 studies from 1980 to 2008 showed that global prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy was 34.6%. Major risk factors of diabetic retinopathy are poor glycaemic control, duration of diabetes and associated hypertension. Regular eye checkup is mandatory for early detection of Diabetic Retinopathy and prevention of blindness. This study is aimed at finding out the knowledge about Diabetic Retinopathy among diabetic patients in a rural area of Central Kerala.

It has become increasingly apparent that traditional medical education serves badly the need of many developing countries to provide effective health care for widely dispersed and often poor communities. This article describes a training programme developed in Iraq to provide final-year medical students with stimulating practical experience in community health care.

Background: Glaucoma is one among the leading causes of irreversible blindness in India. Lack of awareness and lack of knowledge of this disease is the most important cause for the late presentation which leads to blindness. Aim: To find out the awareness and knowledge about glaucoma in a rural population of a literate state like Kerala. Study Design: A cross sectional study using a pre tested semi structured questionnaire and the participants were selected by cluster sampling method. Materials and Methods: The questionnaire contained details of demographic factors in the first part and questions to assess the knowledge of the participants who were aware of this disease in the second part. The responses were entered in MS EXCEL Sheet and data analysis done using the software SPSS version 15.Chi-square test was done to find out the percentage and proportion. Results: Out of the 4414 participants 2052 were males and 2362 were females. 805 (18.23%) people were aware of glaucoma, Awareness was statistically significant in terms of age, age group 40-59 were more aware of the disease. Knowledge of glaucoma was significant statistically in terms of education (p value =0.003) but not in terms of gender (p value -0.847) Major source of information was through mass media. Only 34.4% knew that this is a disease with no symptoms. Conclusion: Awareness of glaucoma is less when compared to the literacy rate. But knowledge of glaucoma is good among those who are aware of the disease. Mass Media can be utilized to impart knowledge of this disease. Health education classes should be conducted and people should be motivated to undergo screening procedures so that early detection is possible.

Background: Adolescents face a range of health challenges, numerous information and guidance regarding adolescent health remaining ignored due to constraints at different levels of health system.One of the main problems among adolescent girls are irregular menstruation, excessive bleeding and dysmenorrhoea. Menstrual irregularities during adolescent period have association with reproductive morbidities in adulthood.Targeting this age group with awareness and early correction of matters and misconceptions related to adolescent sexual reproductive health issues would enable us to yield a healthy society and empowered youth. Objective: To study the prevalence and pattern of menstrual disorders and its associated factors among IX to XII class adolescent girls in Kannur district. Methods: Cross-sectional study among school going adolescent Girls from class IX to XII in Kannur District. Results: Among the 1722 study participants, 48.8% had menstrual disorders, in which dysmenorrhoea is the most common menstrual disorder reported 71.5%. The risk factors like rural residence, lower socioeconomic status, mixed diet, non-consumption of egg, not physically active both during routine life and also during menstruation, increased BMI showed a significant association with menstrual disorder among the study participants. Conclusion: Use of services by adolescents is limited may be due to lack of adequate privacy and confidentiality and judgemental attitudes of service providers, who often lack counselling skills. Therefore, effective services like assurance of confidentiality, psychological support, counselling is necessary.