Rouham Yamout

• MD,MPH
• Health and nutrition specialist at UNICEF - Lebanon Country Office - Beirut

Fragile and shock-prone settings (FASP) present a critical development challenge, eroding efforts to build healthy, sustainable and equitable societies. Power relations and inequities experienced by people because of social markers, e.g., gender, age, education, ethnicity, and race, intersect leading to poverty and associated health challenges. Con...

Background War and armed conflicts severely disrupt all health system components, including the healthcare workforce. Although data is limited on the scale of health care worker (HCW) displacement in conflict zones, it is widely acknowledged that conflict conditions result in the displacement of a significant portion of qualified HCWs from their co...

Introduction Central obesity, as measured by waist circumference, performs differently across diverse localities, and there is a need to optimize gender-based cutoff points to specific ethnic and population groups. Material and methods A total of 1,528 asymptomatic individuals free from cardiac disease aged 40 years and above and attending 25 prim...

Background The conflict in Syria that began in 2011 has resulted in the exodus of over 5 million Syrian refugees to neighbouring countries, with more than one million refugees currently registered by UNHCR in Lebanon. While some are living in tented settlements, the majority are living in strained conditions in rented accommodation or collective sh...

Background The capacity to demand and use research is critical for governments if they are to develop policies that are informed by evidence. Existing tools designed to assess how government officials use evidence in decision-making have significant limitations for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); they are rarely tested in LMICs and focus...

Introduction: The social norms prevalent in Lebanon still accept abusive parenting, especially towards young girls. This study used data generated through evaluation of an alternative education program conducted in 2005-2008 among adolescents belonging to the lowest socio-economic stratus n Lebanon. Objectives: This study used quantitative method...

Introduction In 2012, the Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon piloted a service of multifactorial cardiovascular screening in the publicly subsidized Primary Health Care (PHC) Network. We present an epidemiological analysis of data produced during this pilot to justify the inclusion of this service in the package of essential services offered thro...

With the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, about 700 000 Palestinians were dispossessed and dispersed, mostly to neighbouring countries. Roughly 100 000 Palestinians fled to Lebanon and now 400 000 are living there, most in refugee camps. Although tolerated by the Lebanese Government and population, with their basic needs supported by the UN...

One primary feature of Arab countries is a social culture based on Islamic values and principles, shaping a well-defined intergenerational support system. Prescribed by the Islamic code of conduct, promoted by stakeholders and the law and internalized by the individuals, the family continues to be the cornerstone for the support of older people. Ye...

It is well known that war has negative effects on the mental health of civilian populations. However, different perceptions and reactions to trauma have different impacts on the psychological well-being of affected populations. This study assessed the mental health status of adult internally displaced persons (IDPs) at an early stage of the summer...

The internally displaced persons (IDPs) during the July 2006 war in Lebanon exhibited a high level of community resilience, affirmed by relief agencies and public health professionals. Data from personal observations, interviews, meetings and published material were used to examine factors contributing to this resilience. Findings suggested that co...

The July 2006 war in Lebanon was one of the country's shortest wars. Yet perhaps it was also the worst interstate war in the history of Lebanon. Over the course of 33 days, the war resulted in over 1000 deaths, thousands of injuries, large-scale destruction of infrastructure and properties, as well as massive population displacements. Approximately...

Social epidemiologic studies have revealed the complexity of the association between discrimination and poor mental health for racial and ethnic groups in the United States (US). In this paper we explored the social patterning of perceived discrimination and its association with mental health among Arab Americans, a growing and increasingly visible...

Research during war has many levels of complexities but presents researchers with valuable lessons into design, conduct and conclusions of research. The Arab region has endemic conflicts and recurring wars but there are limited reports of experiences of research conducted in the context of such conflicts and wars. This article summarizes the lesson...

The Working Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support was convened as part of the 2009 Harvard Humanitarian Action Summit. The Working Group chose to focus on ethical issues in mental health and psychosocial research and programming in humanitarian settings. The Working Group built on previous work and recommendations, such as the Inter-Agenc...

While Arab countries showed an impressive decline in child mortality rates during the past few decades, gaps in mortality by gender and socioeconomic status persisted. However, large socioeconomic disparities in child health were evident in almost every country in the region. Using available tabulations and reliable micro data from national househo...

Asthma is a frequent and serious chronic respiratory disease which is sometimes fatal. It involves all ages and all social subclasses. The goal of our study was to determine the demography of asthma in a low socio-economic community in Lebanon and to describe its association with various epidemiologic factors. The computerized data of 44.814 patien...

M. Riachy, P. Bou Khalil, G. Khayat, Y. Kobeissy, R. Yamout, R. Mitri, C. Saade-Riachy, N. Couche, G. Taan, N. Geahchan Objectives Asthma is a frequent and serious chronic respiratory disease which is sometimes fatal. It involves all ages and all social subclasses. The goal of our study was to determine the demography of asthma in a low socio-econ...