Affecting public health for society requires various competencies. In fact, the prerequisite for the implementation of health in all policies should be effectiveness of public health activists (PHAs) in these competencies. This study aims to determine the competencies of the activists in public health. The present qualitative study reviewed the literature and adopted qualitative methods like content analysis, stakeholder interviews, and conducted focus group discussions with related experts. In each stage, the required competencies were extracted through drawing the main action processes of a PHA. Thereafter, the authors reached an ultimately best-suited working model by classifying and approving extracted competencies. The competencies comprise a pyramid set of three main categories of basic, specialized/professional, and individual updating competencies. Personal management, communication, teamwork, project management, ability to apply principles and concepts of public health, anatomy, physiology, and pathology in the organizations of the society should be included in the basic category. Specialized skills should include ability to plan, public participation, intersectoral collaboration, social marketing, working with the media/media friendly attitude, advocacy, research management and knowledge translation, evaluation of health programs, network establishment and management, deployment and institutionalization, operational research, empowerment and consultation, and protocol and service pack design. Last but not least, individual updating is defined as being informed of the latest scientific articles and reports about health and its situation in different countries as well as determinants that affect health. Implementation of this pyramid requires design and establishment of specific centers for transferring effective public health competencies. This pyramid has also functional use for the revision of educational curriculums in all health study fields. Moreover, it is helpful in designing virtual health education courses and the update of employees in entire parts of society pertaining to the health sector.

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BACKGROUND: In the 21 st century, with the epidemiological and demographic transition and the changing nature of diseases and the increase in the burden of chronic diseases, the need to strengthen primary health care and the development of the family medical program as a strategy is felt significantly. AIM: The purpose of this study is to compare the model of implementation of family physician program (FPP) in the United States, England, Germany, Singapore, Turkey, Egypt, and Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a comparative study that examines the model of family physician implementation in selected countries. Data for each country were gathered from the valid databases, were compared according to the comparative table, and analyzed by a framework approach. In order to assure the validity of data, the researchers referred to the websites of the selected nations' Ministry of Health and also cross-checked the findings with reports published by the World Health Organization. RESULTS: In this study, we used the Control Knobs framework to compare countries' FPPs because the framework can demonstrate all necessary features of national health system programs. This framework includes governance and organization, regulation, financing, payment, and behavior in each country. The results of this study show that although the principles of FPP in the selected countries are almost common, they use different methods in FPP implementation. CONCLUSIONS: As the success of any policy depends on the political, economic, social, and cultural context of each country, considering these factors and reinforcing each of the control knobs are critical to the success of the family physician's policy implementation.

Objective: The Iranian Mental Health Survey (IranMHS) indicated that almost 1 in 4 people had one or more psychiatric disorders (23.6%); however, two-thirds of patients did not benefit from health interventions, many provided services were inadequate and imposed a high burden on Iranian families. Therefore, the development of a national program on providing comprehensive social and mental health services, entitled “SERAJ”, became necessary. The present study aims to develop and outline the protocol for the pilot implementation of SERAJ. Method: This study is an action research with the collaborative mode. To compile the protocol, a broad review of the literature, interviews with experts and stakeholders, and focused group discussions were conducted. Results: The pilot implementation should be divided into 4 phases: (1) preparing documentation and work team, (2) preparing the prerequisites for providing pilot services, (3) providing pilot services, and (4) implementation and evaluation. Conclusion: SERAJ considered both preventive and treatment measures for mental and social health disorders and their risk factors. Moreover, the entire population can have access to primary and secondary services. Therefore, SERAJ is more comprehensive than the current situation in the country's mental health services. We suggest piloting and evaluating SERAJ in three districts of Iran.

Health governance challenges can make or break Universal Health Coverage (UHC) reforms. One of the biggest health governance challenges is ensuring meaningful participation and adequately reflecting people’s voice in health policies and implementation. Recognizing this, Iran’s Health Transformation Plan (HTP) lays out the country’s blueprint for UHC with an explicit emphasis on the ‘socialization of health’. ‘Socialization’ is seen as a key means to contribute to HTP objectives, meaning the systematic and targeted engagement of the population, communities, and civil society in health sector activities. Given its specific cultural and historical context, we sought to discern what notions such as ‘civil society’, ‘non-governmental organization’, etc. mean in practice in Iran, with the aim of offering policy options for strengthening and institutionalizing public participation in health within the context of the HTP. For this, we reviewed the literature and analysed primary qualitative data. We found that it may be more useful to understand Iranian civil society through its actions, i.e. defined by its motivation and activities rather than the prevailing international development understanding of civil society as a structure which is completely independent of the state. We highlight the blurry boundaries between the different types of civil society organizations and government institutions and initiatives, as well as high levels of overlaps and fragmentation. Reducing fragmentation as a policy goal could help channel resources more efficiently towards common HTP objectives. The national health assembly model which was first launched in 2017 offers a unique platform for this coordination role, and could be leveraged accordingly.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to review aspects of the current situation and structure of the integrated mental health care services for planning a reform. Aspects of the newly designed infrastructure, along with specification of duties of the various human resources, and its relation with Iran’s Comprehensive Mental and Social Health Services (the SERAJ Program), will also be presented Method: This is a study on service design and three methods of literature review, deep interview with stakeholders, and focused group discussions. In the literature review, national and international official documents, including official reports of the World Health Organization (WHO) and consultant field visits, were reviewed. Deep semi-structured interviews with 9 stakeholders were performed and results were gathered and categorized into 3 main questions were analyzed using the responsibility and effectiveness matrix method. The Final results were discussed with experts, during which the main five-domain questions were asked and the experts’ opinions were observed. Results: In this study, the main gaps of the public mental health care (PHC) services in Iran were identified, which included reduction of risk factors for mental disorders, training the general population, early recognition and treatment of patients with mental disorders, educating patients and their families, and rehabilitation services. The new model was then proposed to fill these gaps focusing on increasing access, continuity of care, coordination in service delivery, and comprehensiveness of care. A mental health worker was placed besides general healthcare workers and general practitioners (GPs). Services were prioritized and the master flowchart for mental health service delivery was designed. Conclusion: A reform was indeed necessary in the integrated mental health services in Iran, but regarding the infrastructure needed for this reform, including human and financial resources, support of the senior authorities of the Ministry of Health (MOH) is necessary for the continuity and enhancement of services. In this model, attention has been given to the principles of integrating mental health services into primary health care. Current experience shows that the primary health care system has been facing many executive challenges, and mental health services are not exclusion to this issue. Monitoring and evaluation of this model of service and efforts for maintaining sustainable financial resources is recommended to make a reform in this system and to stabilize it.

IntroductionNewborn screening (NBS) is a public health measure aimed at identification of early cases, management of afflicted infants, and making efforts to reduce the morbidity and mortality among newborns. All countries may face challenges in implementation of screening programs. The present study aimed to determine the challenges of implementation of the National Phenylketonuria (PKU) Screening Program in Iran.MethodsIn this qualitative study, 38 health policymakers, managers, and PKU experts in Iran were purposively selected as the respondents in 2015. The semi-structured interview was used for collecting the required data and information. After transcription of interviews, their content was analyzed using framework analysis.ResultsThe results were categorized into five main themes and 22 subthemes. The main themes extracted from data were management challenges, diagnosis challenges, treatment challenges, care challenges, and patients’ family problems. Each category consisted of several subthemes.ConclusionConsidering the challenges of implementing this program, some measures such as increased stability of managers in the health system, greater interaction of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education with the heath stakeholders, improving the level of parents’ awareness, the use of efficient information systems, support and legal backing for requiring parents who refuse newborn screening for various reasons, and appropriate insurance coverage seem necessary to be taken.

Health surveillance systems provide regular and continuous monitoring and analysis of health issues, coordination of information production collections and ensuring the use of information. Strategic guidance to the (2025) prospect requires precise, comprehensive and timely information. According to the rules of the fifth and sixth five-year development plans of the I.R. of Iran and the original features of the health policy system, it is necessary to design a health monitoring system. This study aimed to design a health observatory system in Iran. Methods: This was a system design study. Initially, the principles for designing this system were formulated by reviewing the experiences of other countries, the history of the subject in the country, documents, analyzing the status of production and managing health information, and studying the platforms for deploying the observatory system. Then, prepared draft was reviewed and finalized in three stages by experts, and representatives of data and information producers using a written letter and a focused group discussion. Results: In this proposed model, principles of observatory system, observation functions, types of reporting methods, added outputs and value, observatory system products, main dimensions of observatory system, processes, procedures and standards, financial resources, information security and executive guarantee was considered that can be implemented and deployed in one of the organizational units. Conclusion: The system designed with the approval of the High Council of Health and Food Security can lead to obtaining the budget line of national surveys in the parliament or the program organization and facilitate its establishment in one of the universities or the headquarters of the Ministry of Health.