BEHDĀŠTBARĀ-YE HAMA (“Health for All”), a magazine published by the Division of Public Health Education in Tehran from Āḏar 1332 (Dec. 1953) to Abān 1335 (Nov. 1956) and financed by the Public Health Cooperative Organization (PHCO), (Sāzemāne Hamkāri-ye Behdāšt) - a joint venture between the Ministry of Health of Iran and the U.S. Cooperation Mission in Iran. The PHCO was later with the Ministry Health in the Department of Public Health (as of March 1956) and the Division of Public Health Education became one of the six divisions of that department.
Akbar Moʿarefi, the Chief of the Division of Public Health was the licensee and editor of Behdāšt Barāye Hama and its Editorial Board included Jamšid Āmuzegār, Šams-al-Din Mofidi, Hurāsā Šokuh, Abolmajd Ḥojjati, Mehdi Şorayā,Ali Nowḏari and Towfiq Ḡafuri. Behdāšt Barāye Hama ceased publication when Akbar Moʿarefi left Iran for an international assignment. However, it was replaced by another magazine with the same format under the title of Behdāšt-e Emruz (“Today’s Health”), under the license and editorship of Hurāsā Šokuh, the then-appointed Chief of the Division. It was published for some years. Behdāšt Barā-ye Hama, measuring 15x22 cm., had a print run of 2000, and appeared in at least 64 pages (usually much more). The annual subscription fee was, first, 100 Rials for 12 issues and later 50 Rials for 6 issues. It was sold at the newsstands for 10 Rials a copy.
The magazine did not publish advertisements. The articles, original or translation, included pictures, illustrations, tables and graphs. It was an arm of the new and dynamic public health movement especially in the areas of extermination or control of malaria, introduction of potable water supplies in both rural and urban areas, pre-natal care, immunization, containment of transmittable diseases and other fields of preventive medicine and public health. As stated by the editor, in the first issue, it was targeted towards physicians, nurses, environmental and health education workers, teachers or others in the health and education field whose jobs required public interaction. In the back cover of each issue an imminent health problem was depicted by a simple message and a small, appealing and multi-colored poster designed usually by Moḥammad Zamān Zamāni or Sohrāb Sepehri, who also worked in the Public Health Education Division .
The complete set of Behdāšt Barā-ye Hama is available in the National Library of Tehran and the Library of the Faculty of Public Health of Tehran University.
(Akbar Moarefi)
Originally Published: July 20, 2002
Last Updated: July 20, 2002
