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World health day 2021 commemorated in Iran

mahla — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 12:15:38 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) –The World Health Day 2021 was commemorated jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) on Wednesday, April 7 in Tehran.

This year, with the theme of ‘Building a Fairer, Healthier World’, the day is drawing attention to the numerous barriers that stand between people and calls for urgent action to eliminate health inequities and mobilize action to attain better health for all.

Our world is an unequal one, and some people are able to live healthier lives and have better access to health services than others entirely due to the conditions in which they are born, grow, live, work and age. In addition to pre-existing gaps, the COVID-19 has introduced further inequalities, leaving the harshest impacts on those communities already vulnerable, who are more exposed to the disease, less likely to have access to quality healthcare services and more likely to experience adverse consequences as a result of measures implemented to contain the pandemic.

“Health is a fundamental human right. Every person deserves to live a healthy life regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, disability, economic situation, or employment. Progress in tackling health disparities has been slow worldwide, including in the Eastern Mediterranean Region in which many countries are experiencing emergencies and conflict and we have the largest number of displaced people in the world,” said Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO, Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean in his message for World Health Day 2021.

The global inequities are not new. Even as the world has seen improvements in average levels of health and life expectancy, these gains have not been shared equally across different sections of societies within and across nations. This is not fair but is preventable. That is why WHO is calling on world leaders to ensure that everyone has living and working conditions that are conducive to good health.

“All over the world, inequality, stigma and discrimination are, and have always been, drivers of diseases of all kinds,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Zero Discrimination Day on March 1. “We must remember that for millions of people, COVID-19 is just one threat they face on a daily basis.”

Over the past decade, Iran has made noteworthy strides towards health equity in the country and put efforts towards achieving Universal Health Coverage by enhancement of financial risk protection with more access to quality of care. Therefore, more than 90% of the country’s population, including in rural areas, now benefits from health insurance that covers 70% of outpatient and 90% of inpatient services offered at public diagnostic and medical centers. Services delivered at Primary Healthcare Centers and pre-hospital care are free of charge.

WHO is working with the Government of Iran to ensure health equity for all and is supporting the county’s national measures while helping the healthcare system to access and use all available domestic and international resources and make sure no one is left behind.

One of such efforts was the launching of the Iran COVID-19 Emergency Response Project (ICERP) on 16 June 2020. The project is a close collaboration between WHO and MOHME and financed by the World Bank at $USD 50 million. To help tighten the gap in the availability of diagnostic and medical equipment by procuring and delivering a total of 316 medical devices and 135 laboratory machines and their consumables to 45 laboratories across 31 provinces.

Working to tackle the root causes of inequity, last week, the WHO Regional Office launched the report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. “This report provides detailed analysis of inequities among and within countries of the Region and recommends fairer policies and actions to achieve health equity. I call on all our partners and stakeholders to take these recommendations forward,” noted Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari.

The regional “Vision 2023: Health for all by all: a call for action and solidarity”, is aligned with this year’s theme and achieving health for all by all is essential to meet the challenges of today and to build the resilience of tomorrow.

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Healthy Eating Linked to Kids’ Happiness

reporter 1222 — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 06:00:09 +0000

Healthy eating in children is associated with better self-esteem and fewer emotional and peer problems, such as having fewer friends or being picked on or bullied, regardless of body weight, according to a new study.

Results of a research in The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, show that better self-esteem is associated with better adherence to healthy eating guidelines.

“We found that in young children aged two to nine years there is an association between adherence to healthy dietary guidelines and better psychological well-being, which includes fewer emotional problems, better relationships with other children and higher self-esteem, two years later. Our findings suggest that a healthy diet can improve well-being in children,” Dr. Louise Arvidsson, the corresponding author, explained.

Examining 7,675 children two to nine years of age from eight European countries, the researchers found that a higher Healthy Dietary Adherence Score (HDAS) at the beginning of the study period was associated with better self-esteem and fewer emotional and peer problems two years later.

The HDAS aims to capture adherence to healthy dietary guidelines, which include limiting intake of refined sugars, reducing fat intake and eating fruit and vegetables. A higher HDAS indicates better adherence to the guidelines.

The study is the first to analyze the individual components included in the HDAS and their associations with children’s wellbeing, according to materials provided by BioMed Central.

The authors caution that children with poor diet and poor wellbeing were more likely to drop out of the study and were therefore underrepresented at the two-year follow-up, which complicates conclusions about the true rates of poor diet and poor wellbeing.

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Black Tea May Help with Weight Loss, Too

reporter 1222 — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 04:39:10 +0000

TEHRAN – Black tea may promote weight loss and other health benefits by changing bacteria in the gut, research indicates for the first time.

UCLA researchers have demonstrated for the first time that black tea may promote weight loss and other health benefits by changing bacteria in the gut. In a study of mice, the scientists showed that black tea alters energy metabolism in the liver by changing gut metabolites.

The research is published in the European Journal of Nutrition.

The study found that both black and green tea changed the ratio of intestinal bacteria in the animals: The percentage of bacteria associated with obesity decreased, while bacteria associated with lean body mass increased.

Previous studies indicated that chemicals in green tea called polyphenols are absorbed and alter the energy metabolism in the liver. The new findings show that black tea polyphenols, which are too large to be absorbed in the small intestine, stimulate the growth of gut bacterium and the formation of short-chain fatty acids, a type of bacterial metabolites that has been shown to alter the energy metabolism in the liver.

“It was known that green tea polyphenols are more effective and offer more health benefits than black tea polyphenols since green tea chemicals are absorbed into the blood and tissue,” said Susanne Henning, the study’s lead author and an adjunct professor at the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, which is part of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “Our new findings suggest that black tea, through a specific mechanism through the gut microbiome, may also contribute to good health and weight loss in humans.”

“The results suggest that both green and black teas are prebiotics, substances that induce the growth of good microorganisms that contribute to a person’s well-being,” she said.

In the study, four groups of mice received different diets — two of which were supplemented with green tea or black tea extracts:

Low-fat, high-sugar

High-fat, high-sugar

High-fat, high-sugar and green tea extract

High-fat, high-sugar and black tea extract

After four weeks, the weights of the mice that were given green or black tea extracts dropped to the same levels as those of the mice that received the low-fat diet throughout the study.

The researchers also collected samples from the mice’s large intestines (to measure bacteria content) and liver tissues (to measure fat deposits). In the mice that consumed either type of tea extract, there was less of the type of bacteria associated with obesity and more of the bacteria associated with lean body mass.

However, only the mice that consumed black tea extract had an increase in a type of bacteria called Pseudobutyrivibrio, which could help explain the difference between how black tea and green tea change energy metabolism.

Dr. Zhaoping Li, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, chief of the UCLA Division of Clinical Nutrition and the study’s senior author, said the findings suggest that the health benefits of both green tea and black tea go beyond their antioxidant benefits, and that both teas have a strong impact on the gut microbiome.

“For black tea lovers, there may be a new reason to keep drinking it,” she said.

The findings build on a 2015 UCLA study that demonstrated that both green tea and black tea helped prevent obesity in mice that consumed a high-fat, high-sugar diet.

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Expo to put spotlight on healthy food, healthy life

reporter 1222 — Mon, 04 Sep 2017 04:16:11 +0000

TEHRAN — Good nutrition and healthy food is our first defense against disease and our source of energy to live and be active.

Nutritional problems caused by an inadequate diet can be of many sorts, and when they affect a generation of youngsters, they can lower their learning capacities, thus compromising their futures, perpetuating a generational cycle of poverty and malnutrition, with severe consequences on both individuals and nations.

In this line, the first national exhibition on healthy food production technology will be held on October 11-14 in Isfahan, ISNA reported.

Coordinated by the headquarters for development of medicinal herbs technology and traditional medicine, affiliated with presidential directorate for science and technology, the exhibition is aiming at supporting healthy food manufacturers, creating job opportunities in rural and urban areas, raising awareness about healthful and nutritious food, increasing productivity, changing poor eating habits to prevent health conditions and enhancing export.

Side events, including conferences and workshops are also scheduled as well.

According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) healthy soils are the foundation of the food system. Food availability relies on soils. Nutritious and good quality food and animal fodder can only be produced if our soils are healthy living soils.

Over the last 50 years, advances in agricultural technology and increased demand due to a growing population have put our soils under increasing pressure. In many countries, intensive crop production has depleted the soil, jeopardizing the soils productive capacity and ability to meet the needs of future generations.

Holistic production management systems that promote and enhance agro-ecosystem health that are socially, ecologically and economically sustainable are necessary in order to protect our soils while maintaining its high productive capacities.

Farmers play a central role in this aspect. Numerous and diverse farming approaches promote the sustainable management of soils with the goal of improving productivity and maintaining the quality of the products to guarantee the consumers’ health.

In addition to the agricultural aspects of a production some consumers have concerns about additives because they may see the long, unfamiliar names and think of them as complex chemical compounds. In fact, every food we eat is made up of chemical compounds that determine flavor, color, texture and nutrient value. All food additives must be carefully regulated by health authorities and various organizations to ensure that foods are safe to eat and are accurately labeled.

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