The unified prescription was introduced in Lebanon in 2011; an aim was to save on medication expenditure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the views of community pharmacists on the effect and usefulness of the unified prescription. A cross-sectional telephone survey of community pharmacists from all governorates of Lebanon was conducted. A questionnaire was used to collect demographic data, pharmacists' views on the effect of the unified prescription on their work, the percentage of prescriptions in which the prescriber had indicated that the medicine should not be substituted with a generic equivalent and the percentage needing clarification from the prescriber. Face-to-face interviews were held with 12 pharmacists to explore their views further. Of 251 pharmacists interviewed, 56.8% did not think the unified prescription was useful, 34.8% thought it complicated their work and 24.0% that it reduced their autonomy. The in-depth interviews showed that autonomy was perceived to be restricted because of the difficulty in convincing patients to accept a substitute generic medicine, which the unified prescription allowed. The unified prescription complicated pharmacists' work because of increased paperwork and the need for more storage. Pharmacists felt that the large number of prescriptions in which the prescriber had indicated that the medicine should not be substituted undermined the purpose of the unified prescription. The implementation of the unified prescription was not considered a success by community pharmacists in Lebanon. Efforts are needed to improve communication with prescribers and educate the public about pharmacists' role and generic medicines. The implementation of the unified prescription was not considered a success by community pharmacists in Lebanon. Efforts are needed to improve communication with prescribers and educate the public about pharmacists' role and generic medicines. Obesity, as a risk factor for many noncommunicable diseases, is a common public health problem in developed and developing countries. Among Iranian children and adolescents, the prevalence of being overweight has increased by almost 50% in the past two decades. To visualize the geographic differences in general and abdominal obesity risks and related determinants among Iranian children and adolescents. Participants consisted of 14 880 students, aged 7-19 years, living in urban and rural areas of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Spatial patterns of obesity and its association with related risk factors were identified using Bayesian spatial modeling. The highest spatial risks of general obesity (odds ratio 1.21-1.66 for males and 1.81-2.02 for females) and abdominal obesity (odds ratio 1.20-1.82 for males and 1.25-1.78 for females) were observed in the north, northwest and southwest of the country. Risk of obesity was significantly higher in areas with a higher rate of urban residence, active current smokers and prolonged screen time. Identification of high-risk regions for obesity and spatially related risk factors can be used as informative tools for decision-making and planning in health systems at national and subnational levels. Identification of high-risk regions for obesity and spatially related risk factors can be used as informative tools for decision-making and planning in health systems at national and subnational levels. There is strong evidence that a substantial number of fatal as well as nonfatal injuries in road traffic accidents result from alcohol consumption and abuse. To examine the relationship between blood alcohol concentration and characteristics of injury in trauma patients admitted to a major teaching hospital. This was a cross-sectional investigation of trauma characteristics among 38 435 car and motorcycle drivers referred to the South of Iran Trauma Center between October and March 2018. A log-binomial regression model was used to evaluate the relative risk of each covariate on the Injury Severity Score. There were 253 patients (7.78%) with alcohol consumption. Also, blood alcohol level was positive in 8.66% and 6.93% of car and motorcycle drivers, respectively. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/wnt-c59-c59.html The ISS in alcohol consumers and nonconsumers was 6.34 (standard deviation; 8.73) and 4.12 (7.78), respectively, which was significantly higher in the alcohol consumers (t test = 12.96, P < 0.001). Therefore, alcohol consumption was a significant factor in increasing the relative risk of injury, which was 2.83 units more than among drivers who had not consumed alcohol. Our findings show that the police and law enforcement agencies have a responsibility to enforce stricter rules to reduce drink driving and the burden of trauma on the healthcare system. Our findings show that the police and law enforcement agencies have a responsibility to enforce stricter rules to reduce drink driving and the burden of trauma on the healthcare system. Saudi Arabia doubled its tobacco tax in June 2017. To examine the association between an increase in tobacco prices and consumption behaviour among current male smokers in Riyadh. We conducted a community-based study using a self-administered questionnaire distributed to current male smokers aged 15+ years in Riyadh in 2018. The survey included questions on sociodemographic characteristics, tobacco consumption and self-reported chronic health conditions. A total of 1481 participants were included in the final data analysis. After the tobacco tax was doubled, 25.6% of the participants reduced their cigarette consumption and 1.0% quit smoking. The average daily cigarette consumption after enforcing the tobacco tax [19.77, standard deviation (SD) 10.7], was statistically significantly lower than before taxation (21.19, SD 10.8) (P < 0.0001). The calculated price elasticity of demand was -0.20 (inelastic). Employment status (P = 0.002) and per capita gross domestic product purchasing power parity (P = 0.001) were the only statistically significant factors associated with the change in smoking habits. Increasing tobacco prices reduced tobacco consumption by 26.6% among Saudi Arabian male smokers. Increasing tobacco prices reduced tobacco consumption by 26.6% among Saudi Arabian male smokers.