Journal of School of Public Health and

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A community-based rubella serological survey of 795 individuals selected by cluster sampling technique from rural areas of Ourmia ,the center of West Azerbaijan province located in the northwestern Iran , was carried out from December 2001 to March 2002. The aims of the study were to characterize rubella epidemiology in a representative non- immunized community in northwest Iran and also to determine national vaccination strategy against rubella. The survey comprised a seroprevalence study, with stratification by age (0-45 years) and sex. Sera from 392 female and 378 male were tested for rubella IgG antibody using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. "Rubella seropositivity" was defined as serum rubella IgG antibody level > or =13 IU/ml. Of the 770 cases, 58.1% were seropositive. Due to mathernal derived antibodies, 100% of the newborns was seropositive. This figure decreased with time until it became zero by 9 months of age. Then from the age of 4y, it began to rise until it peaked at 93.4% in the age group of 15-19 years. Then the seropositivity decreased to 85.7% in the age group of >35 years. Of women in the reproductive age groups (15-45 years), 89.6% were seropositive. No statistically significant difference in seroprevalence was found between the two sexes. This small preliminary study indicates that like many other countries, rubella is endemic in Iran and eliminating rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in the country will require international efforts, including vaccination of preschool- and school-age children and all susceptible young adults.

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Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has been found as an endemic disease in some areas in northwest and south parts of Iran during recent two decades. The species of the Leishmania has been characterized as L.infantum and the main sources of human infection in the endemic areas is dog. The majority of kala-azar cases are found among children in the age group of 1-4 years. As the delay in diagnosis and treatment of kala-azar cause high mortality in the patients, serological surveillance, using direct agglutination test (DAT), and treatment of seropositive cases who have clinical symptoms are carrying out with cooperation of Provincial Health Services in the endemic foci of Ardebil and East Azerbaijan Provinces in the northwest and Bushehr in the south parts of Iran since 1997.
DAT Leishmania antigen is made in the Protozoology Unit of the School of Public Health with the strain of L.infantum isolated from an infected dog in Iran. The finger prick blood samples are collected by trained Health Workers (Behwarz) from suspected kala-azar patients in the Rural Health Houses. The collected samples are transferred to the near district kala-azar laboratory and tested (using DAT) by the trained technicians. The sero -positive patients are referred to pediatricains or trained general physicians in district hospital or health center for clinical examination and treatment of the seropositive cases (DAT titers of 1:3200 or higher) with kala-azar clinical symptos. For the treatment, usually, meglomine antimongtc (Glucantime) is used via intra-muscular in dosss of 20mg/kg/day for 20 days.
In kala-azar case finding in the serological surveyed areas of Ardebil, East-Azerbaijan and Bushehr provinces during 1997-2001, altogether, 19693 blood samples were collected from suspected kala-azar patients and tested by DAT. Totally , 1274 cases (6.74%) were seropositive in titers of 1:3200 or higher. In the clinical examination of seropositive cases 690 patients (54.16% of sero-positive cases and 3.50% of the total samples) had kala-azar clinical symptoms and therefore they were treated.
This seroloeical surveillance of kala-azar in the endemic area as have detected high number of kala-azar patients among children up to 12 years old, who were subsequently treated on time . This ptoject has prevented the mortality of the disease in the studied areas.

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This is a descriptive and analytic study of growth and nutrition indices in 1624 children under 5 years of age who received servicesfromPHCcentersknownasHealthHouses) in Islamshahr, Qom and Rey catchment areas.We used data from family health files to construct standardized Z-scores for the following indices: weight for age,heightfor age, and weight for height Analysis of data showed that : some 5.4 percent of children were underweight (1.6% , 4.4% , 6.6% in Islamshahr, ReyandQomerespectively). Overall, 24.4 percent were suffering from low height for age (stunting) (11.5% , 19.1% , 28.6% in Islamshahr, Rey and Qom respectively) and 4.45 percent of children had low weight for height (wasting) 6.3% , 2.2% , 5% in Islamshahr, Rey and Qom).There was a statistically significant relationship between low weight and :a) higher birth order (p= 0.009).b) the presence of frequent plateaus (0.003) and downslopes (p=0.01) on the child's growthchart (p=0.01). In Qom, there was also a significantly greater risk of low weight for children with longer nursing periods (p= 0.0005) and those who spent more time on exclusive breastfeeding (p= 0.005).

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Bromide which is present in many water resources has the potential to create adverse health effects after water disinfection by oxidizing agents, and it is considered to be the most important mineral in this respect. Bromide removal is not feasible in conventional water treatment plants. This survey with the aim of removing Br" from water has been accomplished by performing pilot tests in which a GAC fixed - bed contactor and two different resins have been employed. Synthetic water samples of known concentrations of Br" (1-10 mgL -&apos) and TDS (250 - 1000 mg/L-1) have been treated, at the first phase of this study.
Results showed that the best efficiency of GAC treatment was for samples having more than 1 mgL"1 Br" and less than 1000 mgL-1 TDS.
At the second phase of the study, a strong anionic-cathionic resin had been used for Br" removal. Either low or high concentrations of Br", in the influent a considerable reduction in Br" content was always observed at the first 5 minutes of contact.
At the third phase of the study a weak anionic resin (WBA) has been employed. Using this resin in the treatment of synthetic samples proved that WBA is also very effective for Br" removal during 10 min contact while , Br- was reached less than 0.4 mgL"1 . Simultaneous removing of TDS was also showed well efficiency. However, TDS has never decreased to near zero as it was possible for the strong resins.
Finally in the 4th phase of this research, natural samples from four water resources supplying potable water for the city of Qom have been chosen to continue the process of Br" removal by above-mentioned pilots. Despite of high levels of TDS of the samples, there was no important problem in the process of Br" treatment. The acceptable removal efficiencies of bromide were minimum 50% and maximum around 100% .

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The aim of this study was clearing the pattern of parasitic infections in Feraydoon-Kenar, a 30,000 population town on the Caspian sea area.Atotalof2568persons,refered to Feraydoon Kenar Laboratory for rutine stool examination by Direct Smear, scotsch tests for children and formalin ether, and Floatationtests.Atotalof321infectedpersons were in divided 2 groups living in urban and rural area. Also 386 Scotch tape tests were used in school children in different age and sex groups. Prevalences of parasites were : Giardia lamblia 16.93% , Enterebius vermicularis (pinworm) 4.71% , E. histolytica 4.28% , Strengyloides 0.74%, H. nana 0.42%, Hook worms 0.19% and Taenia 0.19%. Non pathogen protozoa prevalences were : E.coli 3.5% , Blastocystis hominis 3.15%, Iodamoeba butschlii 0.66%, Endolimax nana0.15% ,andDientamoebafragilis 0.11%.The highest prevalence were (41.2%) belong to 5 to 9 years old children, and 4.1% of them had both Giardia and E.vermicularisatthesametime.Giardiaprevalence during spring and summer (18.9%) had significant difference comparing with autumn and winter (14.81% )P<0.005, but prevalences of E. vermicularis showdnoseasonal variation.In rural area Prevalences (28.39% ) and in urban area (23.8%) showed significant difference. P<0.005.In rural area "prevalences of Ehistolytica (4.32%), Strengyloides stercolaris (1.85%), and Hook worms (0.62%) had significant difference with urban area (2.51 %, 0.6%, 0%). H.nana (1.26%), E.vermicularis (8.17%) prevalence in town had significant difference with urban area (0%, 6.17%,P<0.005).In 386 scotch tape tests the prevalence of E.vermicularis in young male was 23.46% butin yuung female was 32.63% , demonstrated significant difference (P<0.005).

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Malaria has been prevalent for a long time in Iran. About 1000 years ago, the Iranian physicians such as Avicenna (979-1037) were acquainted to the clinical feature of the disease. The scientific study of malaria in Iran was started by Latycheve in 1921. Later on up to 1944, malaria have been studied by some Iranian and foreign investigators and it was found hyper-endemic in some littoral parts of Caspian Sea in the north and Persian Golf in the south and hypo-or meso-endemic in the central parts of the country. From 1941 to 1948 the anti-malaria campaign were using quinine for chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis as well as anti-larval measures for vector control. From 1949 DDT was used for the control of the Anopheles vectors which were determined at that time as A.maculipennis and A.superpictus in the north and some central parts of Iran, A. sacharovi in the west and A.stephensi and A. culicifacies in the south parts of the country. At the present time A.d&aposthali and A.fluviatilis are also considered as malaria vectors and A.pulcherrimus as a suspected vector in the south parts of Iran.
Spraying (using DDT) and malaria surveillance (case finding and treatment) caused a great reduction in malaria incidence in the malarious areas, particularly in the north and central parts of the country. The Institute of Malariology was established in the Department of Medical Parasitology, Medical School of Tehran University for training and research works on malaria in 1952.Malaria Eradication Programme (MEP) was recommended by the World Health Organization in 1956 and actually started in 1957 in Iran under General Office of Malaria Eradication (GOME) in the Ministry of Health.
Anti-malaria campaign in MEP during 1957-1971 caused interruption of transmission of malaria in the north parts of Zagross mountains, approximately, half north parts of Iran, and reduced, greatly, the incidence of the disease in the south parts of Iran which were considered as problem or refractory areas.
In 1973, GOME became a division of CDC in Ministry of Health and this integration caused some standstill in the activities of MEP. Thus, the incidence of malaria increased in the refractory areas in the south as well as in consolidation areas in the north parts of the country and the total diagnosed cases of malaria in Iran raised from less than 35,000 to approximately 100,000 cases per year. Therefore, the Ministry of Health strengthened the MEP again. Actually, from 1980 the anti-malaria campaign from MEP changed to malaria control programme , because in the refractory areas due to some behaviors or resistance of vectors to insecticides and, partly, due to the resistance of P.falciparum to chloroquine at RI & RII levels, the interruption of transmission was not possible. However, there was about 80% reduction of annual malaria incidence as well as percentage of P.falciparum during the recent decade. The prevalent species of Plasmodia are P.vivax & P.falciparum in the malarious areas of south and P.vivax in the north parts of Iran. P.malariae is rarely found at present time.

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Leishmaniasis affects 1.5-2 million people annually and has been recognized as a major public health problem by the World Organization.
In Iran the incidence rate of the disease among school children in Ardestan province was 3.2 per thousand. As no effective vaccine has been found yet, control of the disease depends on effective drug therapy. The pentavalent anitmonials (pentostam and glucantime) are the current drugs of choice, but their use has been associated with side effects and a certain degree of toxicity. Furthermore, resistance towards these medications is not uncommon. For these reasons we studied the effectiveness of Vinca major alkaloids in treating Leishmania major infections both in vitro and invivo. Vinca has been used for centuries as a traditional remedy in the treatment of various diseases. The effectiveness of different concentrations of Vinca on Leishmania major promastigotes was evaluated and the results showed a significant decrease in the number of promastigotes with higher concentrations and increasing exposure times (PO.005). Results of in vivo trials showed that intralesional injections of purified extracts in chlorofromic phase induced a significant decrease in the mean lesion diameter in Balb/c mice compared to the untreated group.

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In this descriptive study, we compared the amount of public spending on health researchandtheprocessforallocationofresearchfundsbetweenIranandseveraldeveloped countries.
The study made it clear that the State&aposs total per capita spending on research and the percentage of the total government budget and the Gross Domestic Product spent on research were considerably lower than in most developed nations. The administrative process for obtaining funds was long and tedious, and private sector spending on health research was negligible (in contrast to Western countries, where the most research is funded by the private sector). The results of this study could have important implications for health care planning and research administration in Iran.

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Nitrate compounds as the last part of oxidation of nitrogen compounds, which may causemethaemoglobinaemia in infants.Nitrosamines are derivatives of both nitrites and nitrates and are often used as indicatorsof water pollution, largely because of concerns about their carcinogenic potential.With regard to the role of industrial waste (containing nitrates and nitrites) in the pollutionof ground water, in winter 1998 one hundred sites were selected for sampling andmeasurements of Nitrite & Nitrate content among 300 large industrial - complexeslocated in the outskirts of Tehran (Tehran-Karaj Urban Zone). The findings showed thatthe mean Nitrate concentration in the aquifers studied was 51.96 mg/1, with maximumvalues of 85.49 mg/1 and a minimum of 5.9 mg/1.The mean nitrite level was 16.18 mg/1, ranging from 0.29 mg/1 to 314,22 mg/1.According to these findings, both Nitrite & Nitrate levels were above WHO-specifiedlimits and the safety standards established by national guidelines. Statistical analysis showed a negative correlation between Nitrite concentrations anddepth of the aquifer (P-value = 0.034, R = 0.44), ie, with increasing depth there werelower nitrate levels.There was no relationship between nitrate concentrations and the distance of water wellsfrom the sites of wastewater discharge.

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The educational authorities are concerned with preparation of a suitable snack for the students (6-11 yrs).Considering the potential effects of the snack on cognitive and learning functions, this project was designed for the production and evaluation of a nutritionally suitable cake for students.
The cake&aposs ingredients were egg(87%), skimmed milk powder (26%), sugar (1 12%), oil (26%), baking powder(5.2%),defatted soya(22%) and wheat flour (100%) NaFeEDTA (was added as an iron fortificant). Moisture, ash, protein, Ca and iron contents were determined by AOAC methods.Five panelists were selected and trained as recommended by ISO. They evaluated student cake (x), enriched student cake(Y) and the control (z) for taste,texture (scoring), crumb and crust color (ranking). Eighty-five students evaluated the cakes as target group (hedonic).True protein digestibility (TPD) was determined using three diets (non protein,casein,students&apos cake) and three groups of 21 days rats. The results were analyzed using the SPSS program. A students cake with 11.6% protein, 8.7% fat, 21% moisture and 2,5% ash had an energy content of 300 Kcal plus 10 gr protein while the control preparation had 5,7gr (6.6%) protein, 15.6% fat, 19.1% moisture and 1.8% ash and an energy content of 339 Kcal energy and 5.7 gr per unit weight.The taste and texture of x and y were similar but different from the controls (p

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This study has been carried out in two shoe-making factories in Tehran with the aim ofevaluating the cobined effects of noise and toluene on the workers' hearing. Sixty four workers were assigned to three groups according to their exposure to noise andtoluene. 33 were exposed to noise (group 0), 5 to toluene (group 1) and 26 to noise andtoluene (group 2).The concentration were measured in the workers' breathing zone as well as A-weightedsound Pressure level, LPA and equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure levelover 30 minuets , leq (30") A in head position of workers. Then noise level was calculatedand hearing thresholds measured in 500 - 400 Hz frequencey range.The amounts of air and bone hearing los were caluculated. Results indicate that therelationship between hearing loss caused by noise (group 0) and noise and toluene (group2) was statistically significant, P<0.05. Hearing loss due to toluene in mid frequency washigher than in higher frequencies.

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Heavy metal contamination of food products, especially seafood is a major concern because of the bioaccumulation and biomagnification of metal contaminants. Their detection in fish is an indicator of marine pollution. In this study heavy metal concentrations were measured in a sample of commercially obtained canned tuna after digestion and preparation of 21 such samples, levels of mercury and arsenic were determined by the hydride generation technique, while those of lead and cadmium were measured by the graphite furnace system. Tin levels were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometery. The mean contents of heavy metals expressed in ug/g of wet weight were O.U3±0.027 (range 0.082-0.16) for mercury, 0.129±0.082 (0.037-0.262) for arsenic, 0.029±0.019 (0.006-0.088) for cadmium, and 0.33±0.12 (0.016-0.049) for lead. No tin was detected any of the samples. The concentrations of toxic metals in this study were below the WHO/FAO-recommended levels, but further studies are needed to assess the risk associated other types of food.

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Sickness absence has been increasingly used as a health index in workplace populations. Nowadays, it is believed that low back - pain is the main cause of absence and disability among people working in bad ergonomic conditions. Also, researchers found that low back-pain is the main cause of disability among mine workers who manually handle heavy loads. This research was conducted into two phases to determine the absence indexes due to all diseases and low back-pain among 1186 coal miners in the Tezerea coal mine, located in the Shahrood district, in north eastearn Iran.
In the first phase of the study, all medical histories of miners were controlled. The data of those workers who had sickness and low back-pain absence for more than 3 consercutive days during Februray 1999-2000 have been recorded. Risk factors of low back-pain were determined by the Plible method at second phase.
The frequency rate of all sickness and low back-pain absence were 32.8% and 6% , respectively. The incidence rate of all sicknesses and low back - pain were 24% and 5%, respectively. The average absence duration for all sicknesses and low back - pain, respectively were 16.1 and 9.9 days. We found a significant relation between low back-pain absence and manual handling beyond forearm length (p-0.005 and OR=10.75). Also, P values and the Odds Ratio (OR) for repetitive manual handling, contractor workers and working in a cold workplace were p-0.0005 OR 2.21, p=0.025 OR= 2.21, and p=0.018 OR^ 2.54, respectively.
Research on sickness absence is a very complex subject and it is dependent on many factors, such as workforce configuration, employment polices, and absence of a definite perception. We found that 6269 working days were lost due to occupation sickness among 1186 miners, absence rates due to low back-pain among drillers and extractors are high in comparison with other miners. Personal individual characteristics, morphological, biomechanical, psychological stress and workplace conditions are factors causing low back-pain and injureis.

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A case-control study was undertaken to determine risk factors for malnutrition in Hormozgan Province, which has the highest child malnutritionrateinthiscountry.Thestudy subjects were 6-to 30-month old children living on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas. Cases consisted of 158 children having weight-for-age Z scores under -1 by NCHS/WHO standards, controls were 258 subjects with scores over -1. Physical and anthropometrical examinations were performed and mothers interviewed for personal history and various socioeconomic variables. There was no matching procedure, but sex and age distributions were similar in the two groups. Parental education level was significantly lower in cases than controls (P=0.005) and cases were also more likely to have a history of acute disease (OR=1.66, CI%95 1.07-2.57). While father's occupational status differed somewhat between the two groups (P-0.083), other social and demographic factors such as family size, age difference between siblings, mother's occupation plus vaccination history, parent smoking habits, and the use of day-care facilities were distributed similarly between cases and controls. Early supplemental feeding (P=0.0384) and frequent health check-ups (PO.000) were found to protect against growth retardation. The link between child growth, parental education and regular health monitoring emphasizes the importance of addressing non-nutritional factors in the fight against malnutrition.

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The purpose of this study was to measure ambient lead concentrations in Tehran's 12th Municipal District and also Pb concentrations in urine samples from municipal workers assigned to the same region. In this research workers from the 12th District were matched and compared with a control group who were doing the same type of work in another region in northern Tehran with lighter traffic and comparatively clean air.Air samples were analyzed by atomic absorption techniques. Results showed the mean air concentration of lead to be higher than standard (1.5ug/m3) except on Fridays and Thursdays (1.9±0.32). The end-shift urine samples were prepared and analyzed using the HSE method. Lead levels in 77.1% of the urine samples were higher than HSE-recommended limits (643.86±353.73). The independent t-testindicated that the mean urine Pb concentration in the case group was significantly higher than in controls (p<0.001). Mean urine lead levels in smokers were significantly higher than non-smokers in case group (p^0.043). The Pearson Correlation test showed a significant relationship between urine Pb concentration and age, duration of employment, and smoking habit in case workers (r=0.427, p= 0.011, r=0.385, p=0.632 and r=0.632, p=0.009 respectively). Also, the Kruskal-Wallis test indicated that urine lead levels were independent of the workers'education level and work shifts.

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In a survey from 1999 to 2001, a total of 354 samples of soil and water were colleted from different areas and examined for the presence of AcanthamoebaandNaegleria spp. After sieving, filtration and centrifugation, samples were examined for the free living protozoa ( amphizoic amoeba ). Concurrently, a sediment of each sample was cultured in the non-nutrient agar medium enriched by E.coli. In the end, 10 Acanthomoeba spp. and 3 Naegleria sp. were isolated. Besides, we diagnosed one case of human Acanthomoeba infection in a person residing in the area.

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Hydatodosis is one of the most important parasitic diseases that has a global distribution and seems more prevalent in some Asian and European countries. Until now, our knowledge of the parasites' biology and metabolism and host-parasite relationships has remained scanty. The main purpose of this study was a comparison between levels of lactate de-hydrogenase (LDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate amino transferase (AST) and alanine amino transferase (ALT) in fertile and sterile hydatid fluids.Liver and lung tissues of infected sheep were gathered and enzyme concentrations in each cyst plus its fertility status and location (liver or lung) were determined by an auto-analyzing method.Results showed a significant difference between enzyme levels in fertile and sterile hydatid cysts. There seems to be anequilibriumbetween hydatid fluid and serum concentrations of hepatic transaminases, while for LDH and ALP the relationship takes the form of an active interchange.ALP is one of the most important enzymes in parasite metabolism and it is considered as an immunogenic protein in host serum.

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The start of this survey, 588 students (294 in either area) were selected randomly but the ultimate size of the sample was increased to 905, allowing for a 35% omission rate. Anthropometric measurements and stool examinations were performed. Questionnaires dealing with socioeconomic status were completed through interviews with mothers. We also carried out blood tests on a subsample of 180 individuals (1/5 of the the original sample).The results of the study were as follows:In Area 1:4.3% and 15% of the subjects showed evidence of anemia and parasites, respectively.Th mean hemoglobin and hematocrit concentrations were 13.46 g/dland40%.Anthropometric assessment revealed rates of 8.6% and 1.3% for severe wasting and obesity, and 11.9% for severe stunting. Gauging the weight-for-age index on standard growth charts, 13.1% of the subjects had severe wasting and 14.4% suffered from severe stunting and based on BMI, 21.3% were severely malnourished.ln Area 2:5.8% and 13% of the subjects suffered from anemia and parasites, respectively.Mean hemoglobin and hematocrit concentrations were 13.05 g/dl and 37.8%.Anthropometric assessment showed that 9% of the subjects had severe wasting, and 1.8% were obese. 11.7% showed severe stunting. On standard growth charts, 12.4% had severe wasting and 15.3% were severely stunted. Judging by the Body Mass Index, 21.6%) of the subject had severe malnutrition.The mean weight, height and BMI in both areas were substandard and the mean weight in Area 1 was lower than in Area 2. Statistical Associations:In Area 1: the following variables showed statistically significant relationships: History of parasite infection in the last year with child's weight for age. Mother's age and history of maternal parasite infection in the fast year with child's height for age.Parasites infection in the last year with BMI.In Area 2: statistically significant relationships were found:Between mother's literacy / mother's job /family income and child's weight for age.Between family income / percentage of income spent on food/ current parasite infection and height for age.Between diseases affecting food intake and BMI.

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To determine the prevalence of various intestinal parasitic infections, we examined 966randomly collected stool specimens from urban areas and 569 such samples from the ruralregions. These were examined using formalin-ether sedimentation and direct smearmethods. From the total of 1535 specimens, 143 that belonged to 1-6 years old childrenwere examined by scatch tape method.The results indicated that 53.2% of the subjects were infected with intestinal protozoa andhelminths with the following prevalence rates:Entamoeba histolytica 9.6%, E. coli 16%, E.hartmanni 7%, Endolimax nana 2.6%,Iodomoeba biitschlii 1.8%, Dientamoeba fragilis 1.5%, Chi/omastix mesnili 0.4%), Giardialamblia 18.8%, Blastocysts hominis 16.5%, Dicrocoelium dendriticum 0.1%, Taeniasaginata 0.2%, Hymenolopis nana 1.4%, Ascaris lambricodies 0.3%, Enterobiusvermincularis (using scatch tape method) 0.7%, E.vermicularis (using formalin - ethermethod) 28.7%,Trichostrongylusspp.0.1%,Strongyhidessiercorials 0.3% and Trichuristrichiura 0.1%.Rural people were significantly more likely to bear helminthic infections than urbanresidents (4.9% versus 2.1%).E.histofytica wasmore prevalent among men (11% versus 7.1%) and, interestingly,age-specific infection rates for giardiasis and amebiasis showed contrasting patterns in thisstudy

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Approximately 21% of children and adolescents experience signs and symptoms of aDSM-1V disorder during the course of a school year, yet fewer than 20% of those needingmental health services actually receive any. Research suggests that schools and teacherscan help promote mental health, delect children at risk, and refer them for psychiatricassistance. This study aims to determine the effects of an educational intervention onteachers' knowledge, attitude, self-reliance and practice.This study was carried out in 24 State-run elementary schools in the city of Khorramabadin Lorestan province. Iran, during the academic years 2001 - 3.Of the 64 teachers initially selected, 57 agreed to participate in the study 27 of these wereplaced in the intervention group and the remaining 30 in the control group.The intervention group attended a 3-day workshop. Self- administered questionnaireswere filled before and after the workshop, and at the end of the project data were collectedfrom teachers and students. Statistical analysis was done by the SPSS package, usingmainly nonparametric tests.49% of the participants were men, 42% had a high school diploma and others haduniversity degrees. Findings showed significant improvements in teachers' knowledge.attitude, and practice in the intervention group. Nosuchimprovement was observed incontrols. Teachers in the intervention group were able to identify and refer 106 suspectedcases, of whom 79 had a mental disorder confirmed by a psychiatrist. Within the sameperiod, only 2 cases had been referred by the control group. Students' knowledge, themain criteria of teachers' practice in mental health education, had significantly improvedin the intervention but not in the control group. Results suggest that female teachers hadhigher KAP levels than their male colleagues.The study confirms that trained teachers have the capabilities required for participating inSchool - Based Mental Health Services. It also appears that schools are indeed a crucialplace for helping children in need of mental health services.