The proposed method could efficiently detect DIAE signals from SRS data as well as, identifying rare adverse drug reactions (ADRs).

Worldwide, health care decision makers are challenged to set priorities in an environment in which the demand for health care services outweighs the allocated resources. Effective pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement systems, based on health technology assessment (HTA) that encompasses economic evaluations, are essential to an efficient sustainable health care system. The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population was encouraged to establish a pharmacoeconomic unit, as an initial step, for the support of pricing and reimbursement decisions. We anticipate that standardization of reporting would lead to a progressive improvement in the quality of submissions over time and provide the Egyptian health care system with health economic evidence often unavailable in the past. Therefore, recommendations for pharmacoeconomic evaluations provide an essential tool for the support of a transparent and uniform process in the evaluation of the clinical benefit and costs of drugs that do not rely on the use of low acquisition cost as the primary basis for selection. These recommendations will help inform health care decisions in improving health care systems and achieving better health for the Egyptian population.

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In the recent years, World Health Organization (WHO) has supported the practice of Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM) due to its wide health benefits, safety and minimal side-effects compared to chemical agents. People either in developed or developing countries prefer this kind of medicine for several reasons. The health authorities in many countries recognize the importance of traditional medicine in the provision of health care and have initiated efforts to promote and ensure the safe practice of TCM. This research sheds light on the Cupping therapy "Al-Hijama" as an important field of Traditional & Complementary Medicine and/or Arabic medicine. World Health Organization works with the countries to develop policies most appropriate for their situations. The cupping therapy may be used separately or as a synergistic line of treatment with pharmacotherapy. However, the Ebres papyrus describes how cupping therapy was practicing in ancient Egypt 1550 B.C.

Direct Healthcare Professional Communication (DHPC) is essentially distributed for fast communication of new serious drug safety information to healthcare professionals (HCPs). However, the use of this tool concerning the knowledge and preferences of HCPs has never been evaluated in Egypt. This study aimed to evaluate the HCPs' knowledge, preferences, and barriers to the use of DHPC in Egypt. A crosssectional study of a random sample of 254 HCPs surveyed via face-to-face interviews to assess the Egyptian HCPs' awareness of DHPC, the preferences, and barriers that affect its use. Among the 297 approached HCPs, only 254 accepted to participate with a response rate of 85.5%, including (50% internists, 22.83% cardiologists, 11.02% neurologists, 11.02% pediatricians, and 5.12% from other specialties). Most HCPs were not familiar with DHPC (N= 254, 61.8%). One-third of the visited HCPs who were aware of concerned drugs' risk(s) got their information from DHPC (N= 149, 36.9%). HCPs preference for communication channel was highest for meetings (N= 254, 65.7%) and least for newsletters (N= 254, 28%). HCPs reported barriers to reading DHPC included; busy schedule (N= 254, 47.6%), mistrusted source (N= 254, 24.4%), view as a marketing tool (N= 254, 21.7%), invaluable information (N= 254, 9.8%) and disbelief (N= 254, 7.5%). The DHPC did not reach the target HCPs most of the time, but when received, it was successful in conveying the required message to the target HCPs. Multiple barriers were identified that negatively impacted the success of DHPC. It is recommended to use other electronic communication methods to enhance the reachability of the current method (DHPC).

The lack of a universally accepted terminology of what constitutes a Medication Error (ME), makes it difficult to report, detect, categorize and prevent MEs. Methodologically, there isn't a complete picture of the incidence and prevalence of MEs. The broad range of ME rates in literature reflects heterogeneity in the study designs and detection methods used. The current study aimed to detect MEs in reports received from Primary Care Units. A retrospective analysis was applied on such reports dated from March to November 2013 and some fatal cases are taken from 2014. All voluntary reports were included, excluded were errors not associated with drug use and pharmaceutical company reports. Eligible reports underwent assessment using predetermined criteria to pick up MEs. The criteria were applicable on 115 reports, in which MEs were detected. 60% (69/ 115) of ME cases were error cluster while 40% (46/115) were unknown due to either underreporting, lack of data or poor observation and correlation (p< 0.05). Only 7% (8/115) p<0.001 of the reports were pregnancy cases. Moreover, errors associated with vaccine use accounted for 7% (8/115) of the cases while 93% accounted for errors from other drug use at p<0.001. Long-term follow-up was needed but not done by the assessors in 41% (47 of 115) of ME cases at p-value=0.05. Attachments were provided with the reports in 9% (10 /115) of the cases while the majority 91% (105/115) were not (p<0.001). In conclusion, voluntary reporting is a major strategy to prevent MEs by learning from errors reported.