The devastating earthquake in Bam, Islamic Republic of Iran on 26 December 2003 was a profound tragedy inflicting great loss and suffering on the people. The world responded with help and Dr Hussein A. Gezairy, the Regional Director for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office affirmed the commitment of WHO to provide necessary technical and material support to the Islamic Republic of Iran. This disaster served to illustrate what little control we often have, but at the same time emphasized the need to be prepared.

Unfortunately, it is often the actions of people themselves that affect the health and well-being of others. In this issue we present two papers on the impact of sanctions on the health of children in Iraq. While sanctions are no longer an issue, sadly the beleaguered people of Iraq are now experiencing other health dangers as a result of the ongoing fighting within the country. It is to be hoped they will come through these troubled times and come to enjoy peace and stability. WHO continues to work to assist the country in its provision of health care for its people. Today we also face the man-made threat of bioterrorism and included here are two papers on anthrax, which has already been used as an agent for bioterrorism and remains a potential threat.

Not only do people suffer from risks from outside, but they can endanger their own well-being by their actions and life styles. On this aspect, this issue contains papers on risky health behaviour among university students in Egypt, opioid use in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and respiratory function in chronic smokers in Turkey.

It is reported that 7 million children around the world are born annually with severe genetic disorders or birth defects and 90% of infants born with such disorders are found in developing countries. Thus included here are a number of papers concerned with genetic conditions such as Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome and Rothmund Thomson syndrome and an Arabic paper on handicapped and mute children.

These are just some of the papers published in this first issue of Volume 10. Other areas covered are communicable diseases (such as malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis, typhoid fever and leprosy), health systems and population health data.

As ever, therefore, EMHJ presents an eclectic mix of papers from many countries both within and outside the Region, and we hope our readers will find much to inform and stimulate interest.