background many countries conduct health impact assessment (hia) of their projects and policies to predict their positive and negative health impacts. in recent years many guides have been developed to inform hia practice, largely reflecting local developments in hia. these guides have often been designed for specific contexts and specific need, making the choice between guides difficult. the o...

background in 2004, the health system in iran initiated an organizational reform aiming to increase the autonomy of teaching hospitals and make them more decentralized. the policy led to the formation of a board of trustees in each hospital and significant modifications in hospitals’ financing. since the reform aimed to improve its predecessor policy (implementation of hospital autonomy began i...

background: statistics of alcohol use iran was investigated in the beginning of 2010 in mental, social health and addiction department of ministry of health. the findings showed that the alcohol use, especially in young people, is notable. hence a strategic plan or a policy document in alcohol use was needed to explain the main vision also provide countrywide strategies for all related domains ...

health reform is the outcome of dispersed policy initiatives in different sectors, at different levels and across time. policy work which can drive coherent health reform needs to operate across the governance structures as well as the institutions that comprise healthcare systems. building policy capacity to support health reform calls for clarity regarding the nature of such policy work and t...

policy making in health is largely thought to be driven by three ‘i's namely ideas, interests and institutions. recent years have seen a shift in approach with increasing reliance being placed on role of evidence for policy making. the present arti­cle ascertains the role of ideas and ideologies in shaping evidence which is used to aid in policy decisions. the article dis­cusses different theor...

background in many parts of the world, ongoing deficiencies in health systems compromise the delivery of health interventions. the world health organization (who) identified four functions that health systems need to perform to achieve their goals: efforts to strengthen health systems focus on the way these functions are carried out. while a number of studies on health systems functions have be...

background health policies are important instruments for improving population health. however, experience suggests that policies designed for the whole population do not always benefit the most vulnerable. participation of vulnerable groups in the policy-making process provides an opportunity for them to influence decisions related to their health, and also to exercise their rights. this paper ...

in 2014, a series of reforms, called as the health sector evolution plan (hsep), was launched in the health system of iran in a stepwise process. hsep was mainly based on the fifth 5-year health development national strategies (2011-2016). it included different interventions to: increase population coverage of basic health insurance, increase quality of care in the ministry of health and medica...