Once again we have a wide range of articles from across the region.

A case study on Aspiration and Death from Amitraz-Xylene Poisoning, has been presented by FATMA YÜCEL, BEYAZTAS, SINAN GURSOY1, YELTEKIN DEMIREL2, KENAN KAYGUSUZ1, and CANER MIMAROGLU of the Cumhuriyet University School of Medicine, due to the paucity of literature on this topic. Amitraz-Xylene is a commonly used insecticide for treating ticks on animals.

An article from M. Mumtaz Mazicioglu, Cevat Yazici and Ahmet ÖztÜrk, of the Erciyes University Medical Faculty Department of Family Medicine, looks at Reference values of hematological parameters of healthy Anatolian Males aged 18-45 years old, as reference values of full blood count have been determined in several trials, but there are no reports on reference values of full blood count parameters in Anatolia.

Dr Safaa Bahjat from Kirkuk in Iraq, has written on the need for a Middle East Center of Disease Control, to not only cater to some of Iraq's immediate problems but for the entire Middle east region. With increased vigilance required due to avian flu, and less recently SARS, this is a timely call to look at control of disease in the region.

A learned and articulate article on Home Health Care Team members by Dr Nabil Kurashi, President of the Saudi Society of Family & Community Medicine and Associate Professor of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Member, Scientific Council, Arab Board of Medical Specialties. Home health care (HHC) is that component of a continuum of comprehensive health care whereby health services are provided to individuals and families in their places of residence for the purpose of promoting, maintaining or restoring health, or maximizing the level of independence, while minimizing the effects of disability and illness, including terminal illness. Dr Kurashi writes that while HHC programs have been established as hospital-based programs for over the past ten years to solve the long-term occupancy of their hospital beds, it has just started in Saudi Arabia.

Another case study by Suha M. Ajeilat, Reham I. Shaban, Ayman S. Madanat, looks at Scleromalacia Associated with Marfan's Syndrome. Scleromalacia occurs as a complication of Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus, Rheumatoid arthritis, Vogt Koyanagi Harada syndrome and following retinal detachment surgery, but it has never been reported as a complication of Marfan's syndrome.

Our featured Team Member this month is Dr Manzoor Butt of Rawalpindi Pakistan, a regular contributor. Manzoor's article, Skilled Health Workers - A Solution to Primary Health Problems in Pakistan, provides a pragmatic approach to the many needs of rural and impoverished communities in Northern Pakistan. He has also contributed for Women's Empowerment Week a short article on problems encountered by blind school girls, and programs he has implemented to teach personal hygiene especially when it comes to menstruation. Dr Butt's 'leaflet' for school girls has been included as a print out for other practitioners who may have children with similar needs in their communities.

Childhood Orbital Cellulitis Complicating Sinusitis in Tafila from Khalid M Alrashed and Hussein A Bataineh from Prince Zeid Hospital, has been provided to determine the importance of sinusitis as a cause of orbital cellulitis, the causative organisms and peak age of occurrence.

Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): Evidence-Based Approach has been presented by Dr. Abdullah Alsaeedi, Dr. Mahmoud Hanafy, and Dr. Youssif Lamey of Aljhara Hospital, Kuwait. Even though other conditions such as asthma and bronchiectasis are included in some definitions of COPD, this review deals with COPD due to chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Much effort has been put into two articles, Acceptance of self-treatment in Hemophilic Patient: A Training Method, and A Study of Depression Prevalence of Nurses and It's Effective Factors in Shiraz Namazi Hospital, which were presented by S.Habibollah Kavari, PhD, Assistant Professor of School of Management and Medical Information Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. While we have had to extensively edit these articles they are important topics, especially with falling rates of personnel in the nursing profession. The article on home self- treatment of hemophilic patients also deals with the issues of health professional resources, with home care, and self treatment, taking pressure off existing personnel resources and health spending.