The rehab centers would provide addicts under treatment with ID cards or certificates.

Drug Control Headquarters is to release a list containing the names of authorized addiction treatment centers for high-risk substance abusers.
Director general of the headquarters for treatment and rehabilitation, Saeed Sefatian, told ILNA, ÒThis would provide drug abusers with the assurance they need for referring to rehabs to treat their addiction.Ó
He added that the drug rehabs would provide addicts under treatment with ID cards or certificates, which they can present to police to avert detention.
ÒThe card provides proof that the holder is receiving treatment. Drug abusers lacking the card face detention by police,Ó he added.
ÒA subcommittee has been formulated in the Drug Control Headquarters with representatives from Islamic Republic of Iran Police, State Prisons Organization, Health Ministry and State Welfare Organization. The subcommittee will decide on the procedures for issuance of addict ID cards.Ó
According to the official, the Health Ministry has intensified its supervision over addiction treatment centers, for which reason unauthorized drug rehabs can be identified.
He advised substances abusers to seek treatment only from authorized centers.
ÒThe Medical Registration Board is officially in charge of medical and healthcare advertisements and should therefore block advertisements by uncertified medical centers,Ó he concluded.

Seventy percent of the road death toll involve family breadwinners.

Commander of Traffic Police Brigadier General Mohammad Royanian said car mishaps impose 200 billion rials in damage daily on the economy, while between 28,000 and 30,000 people are killed as a result of dangerous driving habits, ISNA quoted.
In his address to the Seminar on Traffic and Safety, attended by officials from the Education Ministry, he emphasized the role of that ministry in educating members of society and commended, ÒThe education sector should lead the way and try to inculcate a correct traffic culture in the society, starting from schools. This is the only way to eliminate lawlessness and social indiscipline.Ó
He said if officials expend only one-tenth of the 200 billion rials squandered via driving incidents daily, the country will be on the right track for developing a good traffic culture.
He reiterated that 70 percent of the road toll involve family breadwinners. ÒThe number of people who are jailed each year due to an inability to pay blood money as a result of road accidents is 10,000, indicating the intensity of social and behavioral disorders.Ó
Pointing to estimates by the World Health Organization regarding the 80-percent rise in IranÕs road toll by 2020, Royanian stated, ÒSuch tragic reckonings are made on the basis of realities in our society.Ó
Presently, according to Royanian, traffic incidents are the second top factor in mortalities in Iran, after heart failures. ÒRoad mishaps claim 80 lives in Iran every 24 hours,Ó he exclaimed.

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) representative said Iran's cooperation with UNICEF over the past six decades is satisfactory, Fars news agency reported.
Speaking at a press conference to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the start of operation of UNICEF, Christian Salazar said some UNICEF directors did not expect such a high level of cooperation by the Iranian government.
He further gave assurances that his organization would make maximum efforts to help Iranian children educate well and lead a healthy life.
Salazar also pointed to the growing pain and agony of the worldÕs children in rural areas, outskirts and even inside some cities over the last decade, and said that these children are suffering from the poverty of their parents and cannot be hopeful to live a standard life.
He also stated that the growth and life expectancy of Iranian children has been on the rise in the last 20 years, adding UNICEF is pleased to witness that the children's health systems in Iran have grown more comprehensively, specially with regard to contagious diseases.
The UNICEF envoy lauded a reduction in malnutrition among Iranian children, but stressed that around 5.5 percent of Iranian children are still suffering from poor nutrition. He said these children mostly live in remote rural areas and that it is difficult for UNICEF and other supporting bodies to reach out to such regions.
He also lauded the post-Islamic Revolution Iran, saying the educational gap between males and females has admirably narrowed down, while the quality of education has grown.
Nevertheless, the UNICEF official complained about the high rate of school dropouts in Iran's deprived provinces, saying Afghan children comprise a major part of such students.

Upgrading the knowledge of researchers and experts in agro sector would help promote standards and increase the quality and safety of food products.

Ministry of Agriculture Jihad organized the National Food Safety Workshop (Codex) in Tehran last Wednesday in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), IRNA reported.
Deputy agriculture jihad minister for international and African cooperation affairs explained, ÒInvestment in manpower training for the food sector is a policy pursued by the ministry in line with macro development goals.Ó
Farid Ejlali noted that upgrading the knowledge of researchers and experts in agro sector would help promote standards and increase the quality and safety of food products.
The participating experts were updated on the latest Codex standards and ways to implement them at the national level during the workshop, he stated.
Ejlali described the educational goal of the workshop as acquaintance with international Codex standards and guidelines as well as national food documents.
The workshop also aimed to bring up-to-date the national food standards in line with goals stipulated in the Fourth Development Plan (2005-2010), he added.
Establishment of 23 technical committees to supervise food standards with the assistance of ministries and organizations indicate that the government attaches great importance to nutrition and food safety.
He expressed hope that optimum capacity building efforts would help standardize domestic food products for supply at national and international markets.
The Codex Alimentarius (Latin for "food law") is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations relating to foods, food production and food safety under the aegis of consumer protection. Officially, it is maintained by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a body established jointly by FAO, and World Health Organization in 1963 to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in international food trade. The Codex Alimentarius is recognized by the World Trade Organization as an international reference point for the resolution of disputes concerning food safety and consumer protection.

A farmer fixing a pulley to draw water from a well in Bushehr (Photo by Abbas Heydari)

Close to 3,000 saplings were planted at Tehran's Touska Park to mark the World AIDS Day (Dec. 1), deputy Tehran Mayor for health affairs told ISNA.
Mehdi Amiri said that AIDS results in social isolation and discrimination, adding, ÒTrees symbolize life and were therefore planted as a gesture to show support for AIDS patients and create hope among them.Ó
He noted that a number of citizens took part in the initiative jointly held by Tehran Municipality's Directorate General for Health Affairs, District 15 MunicipalityÕs Social Department and the Parks and Green Areas Organization.
Numerous programs were implemented across the city throughout the week to observe the occasion including cultural contests, education on AIDS prevention and control, and information dissemination about the disease.
Amiri insisted that AIDS patients are members of the society and are entitled to a normal life.
ÒMany of these people have been infected unknowingly and it is not right to isolate them from the society,Ó he said, adding the public need to be convinced that no risks threaten their health through casual contacts with AIDS patients.

The price of illegal drugs in Europe has plummeted to possibly record lows, even as consumption of cocaine and injectable drugs like heroin remains a critical concern, a European drug watchdog said, AFP wrote.
Average prices for illicit drugs have dropped by up to 50 percent across the European Union between 1999 and 2004, according to a new study released by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Brussels.
Still the group, which presented its findings to the European Parliament, said it was not able to draw a direct link between falling prices and higher drug consumption or seizures.
"Price is just one of many factors influencing people's decision to take drugs, and at present we see no simple relationship between general consumption levels and the price of drugs on the street," said center chairman Marcel Reiman.
Still, Reiman warned "we cannot fail to be concerned that across Europe drugs are becoming cheaper in real terms. If this means that those who have a tendency to consume drugs will use them more, then the ultimate cost of drug taking in terms of healthcare and damage to our communities is likely to be considerable."
Bargain prices--corrected for inflation--can now be found on European streets for such drugs as hashish (down 19 percent over five years), marijuana (12 percent) and amphetamines (20 percent).
Indeed, the diving cost of cocaine and ecstasy, down a spectacular 22 percent and 47 percent, respectively, make the two products a better buy today than almost two decades ago.
The price drop appears neither uniform nor well explained. Prices also vary widely within the EU. Seizures of European heroin, for example, are on the rise. A total of 19 tons of heroin was captured in 2004--a 10 percent increase from the previous year.
But production of Europe-bound heroin, largely coming from Afghanistan, has also increased to the point where global supply may now exceed demand.
"Heroin is no longer a fashionable drug and overall we see an aging population of problem drug users accessing treatment and care," center director Wolfgang Gotz said.
Also up is production of cocaine, Europe's second most popular drug after marijuana, whose consumption is at a historic high--albeit dwarfing that in the United States.
Indeed, drug-related deaths rank as one of the main causes of mortality among European men under 45, it said.

Inebriated South African drivers who venture onto the country's roads stand the risk of having their cars taken away by the state following a ruling at the appeal court, AFP said.
A judgment handed down by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein ruled that a vehicle being driven by someone who was intoxicated could be regarded as an "instrument" in a crime and thus liable for forfeiture.
Legal experts say that while drivers involved in minor accidents would not lose their cars, those who are found to be heavily over the alcohol limit after being involved in more serious incidents could well do so.
The ruling was welcomed by both the government and safety campaigners in a country where some 12,000 people die on roads each year.
"We believe it will ensure we deal with lawlessness on our roads, particularly for us to deal with those people who have caused the loss of about 4,000 lives each year," transport ministry spokesman Collen Msibi told AFP.