Background: Information technology has been developed so rapidly and pharmaceutical companies design websites with the goal of providing better service to customers and sell more products. The evaluation of information contained on the selected pharmaceutical company’s web sites is adapted in the current study to understand the needs and expectations of consumers.Methods: According to the research plan, a questionnaire used in a similar study by Walter Wymer was applied in this study. The reliability of the survey was confirmed by examining 12 primary samples through Cronbach’s alpha. Based on the statistical community of medical and pharmacy students that reside in the Tehran Medical Sciences University, Iran , the samples randomly were chosen. A total of 5 branded prescription drugs were selected either because they were evaluated as being poor consumer choices for safety reasons or better alteration exists. The study participants visited each of five websites for the selected drugs, and then they answered a series of questions for each website, to evaluate each website’s information content. Data were analyzed using SPSS software.Results: The results showed that only 2 of 5 websites was fully presenting benefit and risk information, predominantly the later one, and the limitations to the uses of drug. Pricing information, alternative medicines, treatments, and behavioral approaches for dealing with an illness or health condition were not part of the information provided by drug companies.Conclusion: Only two of the five selected web sites had relatively good condition. Hence, Iranian consumers need to be aware and careful to use the pharmaceutical company websites as a source of information for finding prescription drugs information.

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Background: It is necessary that we have more information about the quality of life (QOL) of diabetics, their special characteristics and socioeconomical characteristics that affect QOL in type II diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the QOL in type II diabetic patients and relationship of QOL in type II diabetic patients with socioeconomical and treatment factors in Bojnord City, Iran.Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study. The subjects, in this study, were patients with type II diabetes referring to the diabetes clinic in the city of Bojnord, sampling was done randomly, according to the formula of samples and resources, 218 samples were estimated. For data collection, a two-part questionnaire containing demographic and disease characteristics and QOL questionnaire SF36. After collecting the information and entering data in the software SPSS using χ2 statistics test, one-way ANOVAs, t-test, and correlation coefficient were analyzed.Results: In this study, 218 patients with type II diabetes were analyzed of which 77 (35.3%) were male and 141 (64.7%) were female and most of the cases were married (96.3%). The mean age of the participants was 55.45 ± 11.44 years and also the average weight, body mass index, and duration of disease were 71.94 ± 12.17 kg, 27.18 ± 4.53, and 2720.78 ± 2504.63 days, respectively. The highest average among the eight dimensions of QOL is in physical function. The total score of the QOL was 55.94 ± 18.63. Furthermore, the findings showed that QOL of 66 people (30.3%), 56 people (27.7%), 59 people (27.0%), and 37 people (17.0%) is undesired, poor, good, and desirable, respectively. The results of t-test and ANOVA showed between gender, education, type of treatment and QOL in type II diabetic patients studied; there was a statistically significant difference (P ≤ 0.050).Conclusion: To increase the QOL for diabetics, attention to the self-care training programs and continuous monitoring and regular of patients have an important role.

Background: Equity is one of the pivotal aims and priorities of the pharmaceutical system. The World Health Organization report in 2000 clarifies the important role of equity in health-care systems. Equity and efficiency are prominent features of health-care system operation. Pharmaceuticals play an important role in the cycle of health services. The aim of this study was to evaluate the equity in access to pharmaceutical services in selected cities of Isfahan Province, Iran.Methods: This research is a cross-sectional analytical study. A valid, reliable questionnaire including 25 questions was prepared to measure patients’ access to their prescribed medicines and also to determine their socioeconomic status (SES). Totally 800 questionnaires were completed by patients who attended pharmacies in selected cities of Isfahan Province. Equity in access was evaluated using concentration and Lorenz curves.Results: Nearly 66% of the samples were categorized in moderate-to-extremely poor SES. The highest rate of access to pharmaceutical services was found in Borkhar and Meymeh (98.9%) and the least was in Natanz (90.5%). The concentration index (CI) for access to pharmaceutical services was 0.029 in Isfahan Province, and thus equitable access to pharmaceutical services was estimated to be about 97% in this province.Conclusion: The CI for access to pharmaceutical services was 0.029 in Isfahan Province. The findings show that the pattern of accessibility is not significantly different between the cities with various development indicators and is not related with various SES. This could be considered as one of the positive features of pharmaceutical policy in Iran.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an irreversible and progressive deterioration of renal function. The terminate stage of CKD is known as end-stage renal disease (ESRD) at which the patient needs a renal replacement therapy such as dialysis. Secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) - excessive production of parathyroid hormone - is a common complication of impaired renal function. Patients with ESRD are likely at high risk for varying degrees of SHPT. Guidelines recommend pharmacotherapy as the main treatment of SHPT. Cinacalcet is a new medicine for treating patients with SHPT. The aim of this paper was to describe the background, rationale, objectives, design, and methodology of cost-effectiveness analysis of cinacalcet for SHPT in ESRD patients.Methods: We will perform a systematic review of the approved databases and literature to collect randomized control trials on SHPT. The definitions, data sources, methods of data gathering, and data generating will be explained in this paper. One-way sensitivity analysis will be used for estimating the robustness of our results.Conclusion: This study helps to obtain information concerning the cost-effectiveness of using cinacalcet in the treatment regimen of SHPT patients. The result will assist policy makers and physicians to support the most cost-effective pharmaceutical therapy for SHPT patients. This would increase allocative efficiency of the health-care delivery system in Iran.

Background: Considering that the cosmetics today are not have used only for luxury purposes and have effective medicinal components, pharmacists require knowing about the components and ingredients of such products with a scientific level on different usages. As mentioned above, the main objective of this study is investigating the knowledge of pharmacists employed in the pharmacies of Tehran about cosmetics.Methods: This study has been conducted by descriptive method using surveys. For completing the surveys, referring to the pharmacies, in personal, and delivering the forms to pharmacists, they were asked to complete it in the same time and they returned it to the surveyor.Results: According to results, it can be seen that 57% of pharmacists generally answered correctly, i.e., the information of almost 43% of pharmacists for sunscreen cares seems not to be enough. Furthermore, the awareness of pharmacists about depilatories and their physicochemical properties and ingredients was weak (21.5%).Conclusion: It was considered as the only significant relation between age of pharmacists and their knowledge such that by increase in their age, their knowledge to two products, sunscreen care, and depilatory was decreased. On the other side, in Iran, the role of pharmacists has not been defined in this field-necessity of providing cosmetics information.

Background: Right to health has always been one of the main concerns of human beings and based on international standards and documents, it is considered as an important part of human right. Today, right to health on accessibility to health-care services and medicines is believed to be the main core of the right to health and the most important base of justice in health. The purpose of this study is to investigate the status of this right in the international community and the existing patterns as well as reviewing the challenges and opportunities in enhancing the right in Iran.Methods: To conduct the survey, some domestic and international sources, mainly on the internet, were employed, including papers, books, and reliable documents such as fact sheets, standards, interpretations, and conventions. The data were collected, summed up, and then they were analyzed and presented using a descriptive approach.Results: Right to health, in general, and right to accessibility to health-care services and medicines, in particular, is the right of each person to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health which is identified by four basic elements including availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality. According to the international documents and standards, the accessibility contains some aspects such as non-discrimination, physical, economic, and information, which partially, they have been taken into consideration in the laws and regulations of the Islamic Republic of Iran. To achieve the goals, governments are obliged to take relevant measures such as legislative, judicial and quasi-judicial as well as executives, administrative, and budgetary ones. To evaluate the fulfillment of right of accessibility, some standards have been introduced, one of which is a set of indicators published by the United Nations, which is considered as a main reference in the world.Conclusion: Despite some progress made in Iran in legislative and administrative aspects regarding the implementation of the right to accessibility, there are still some defects and shortcomings to reach the goals. Legal vacuum, insufficient budget, lack of enough attention to judicial and quasi-judicial practices, especially the role of inspection by ombudsman can be regarded as the main problems. Moreover, having a closer relationship with the relevant international organization is necessary. The necessity of reviewing and revising the existing laws and regulations is another tangible fact which can lead the country to resolve the problems and enhance the performance in this field.

Pharmaceutical expenditure is a substantial part of the health-care system budget. In Iran, people are paying about half of total pharmaceutical expenditure out of their pocket. In this study, we reviewed the Iranian pharmaceuticals financing system including the current situation and the relevant policies. We also provide an overview about the new health-care system reform and its challenges ahead.