Obstacles to health in the Arab world

doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7573.859

BMJ 2006;333:859 (21 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7573.859

Letter

Obstacles to health in the Arab world

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Health indicators in the Arab world show starkdifferences between individual countries. But aggregate figuresprovide only a narrow perspective. They do not show variationaccording to socioeconomic group, sex, education, or politicalaffiliation. The scarcity of databases available to collectsuch detailed data reflects the fact that inadequate politicalsupport exists for rigorous intersectoral research of relevancefor health in the region. National development agendas and publicpolicies are focused on economic development. Funding for healthtends largely to be directed at providing curative medical servicesdesigned to emulate Western health systems.¹

Patriarchal and religious principles embedded in the state structuresof many Arab countries—such as Lebanon, Egypt, and SaudiArabia—are a further obstacle to unpicking and takingaction to tackle poor health and health inequity in the region.The conservative values of the Arab world render public debatesabout religion, politics, and sexuality unacceptable and place. . . [Full text of this article]

J Makhoul, associate professor

Department of Health Behaviour and Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, PO Box 11-0236, Riad el Solh 1107-2020, Beirut, Lebanon jm04@aub.edu.lb

F El-Barbir, public health practitioner

Department of Health Behaviour and Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, PO Box 11-0236, Riad el Solh 1107-2020, Beirut, Lebanon