Medicine was developed to an astonishingly high degree by Muslims. During at least five centuries Muslim physicians translated medical books from Greek and other languages, and with their descriptions of the clinical signs of many illnesses, many of the ideas and concepts contained in medical encyclopedias (like al-Qanun written by Avicenna), passed it to the West and East. One of the greatest Muslim physician was undoubtedly Ibn al-Nefis (d.1288), who first accurately described the circulation of blood through the lung (in XVI century the credit went to Michel Servet), and body (in 1628 the credit went to W. Harvey), and author of the famous Excerpt of al-Qanun, written by Avicenna.

AVICENNA (980-1037), whose full name was Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Abd-Allah ibn Sina, was the most renowned and influential medical man and philosopher of the medieval Islam. Over a three hundred of Avicenna's works have survived, ranging from encyclopedic treatments to short treatleses and covering apart from medicine, philosophy and science, religious, linguistic, and literary matters. He wrote some works in Persian, of which the Danishnama-yl 'Ala'i ("The Book of Science Dedicated to Ala's Dawla") is the most important. Most of his works, however, are in Arabic. His chief medical work is Al-Qanun fi't-tibb ("The Canon of Medicine"), a synthesis of Greek and Arabic medicine also includes his own clinical observations and views on scientific method. The most detailed philosophical work is the voluminous al-Shifa' ("The Healing"). Al-Najat ("The Deliverance") is largely a summary of al-Shifa', although there are some deviations. Al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat ("The Directives and Remarks") gives the quintessence of Avicenna's philosophy, sometimes in an aphoristic style, and concludes with an expression of his mystical esoteric views, a part that relates to certain symbolic narratives which he also wrote.

The exposition to sex hormones during pregnancy and their effects on fetus and newborns growth and development has been the subject of numerous researches. The former researches pointed out that the sex hormones used during pregnancy may have the negative effects on fetal growth. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the hormones used during pregnancy on the growth and development of children until the age of seventh year. The study includes 528 children; 235 of them have been exposed to hormones during pregnancy and the others 293 who have not been exposed to hormones "in utero". The selection of the newborns and their mothers has been made according to the hormonal exposures during pregnancy and the delivery term. The results indicate that the average values of children's weight and length on the delivery in hormonal group have been lower than in the control group. The children in the hormonal group had the earlier development of the speech and less number of disorders. The assessment of various growth factors and children's development represents a special methodological and evaluation problem, because many factors have influence on the development of speech in children.

Family is fundamental component in society and place where health or disease are creating. Family health care in our country has not found its place yet, although there is reason for its development. Some experimental areas in our country, which were making progress in family health care, should important advantages of family health care are greater satisfaction of population and 6 medical staff, better efficiency, effectiveness, economisation and better quality of health care. Modification of schooling system and improving the quality of specialisation medical staff, modification of method of micro-organization of health care schools and were organisations charges in information system by using computers and help of society which will sanction recommended charges by law, are necessary for existence of family health care. That's way implementation of purposes of strategy "Health for all by the year 2000" of WHO is very important in our country, specially those purposes considering concept of family health care which we were experimentally developing for 10 years in Sarajevo.

In this work we present our experience in providing family health care in certain areas of the city. This work was carried out by teams of medical doctors and nurses (polivalent). After 10 years of experience and the obvious positive effects, we can say that a general practitioner may enjoy the confidence of citizens in that he takes care of the whole population of certain microregion, or by the way, of protection families with the accent on promotion of health and prevention. The health of families is protected through emphasis on promotion a good health and prevention of disease.

In the four year period from 1985 to 1988 from 527 treated patients with diarrhoea syndrome age 0-7 years hospitalized on Clinic for infectious disease in Sarajevo, 170 patients (32.2%) had rota virus isolated as the cause isolated. Subgrouping and serotyping of rota virus are undertaken in 115 cases. Subgrouping was done well in 94.7% and serotyping in 58.2% cases. Serotype 1 of subgroup II isolated in 58.2% of to cases during four years of work, and other serotypes were isolated sporadically. For the first time in Europe, during these four years serotype 9 rota virus isolated in 17 cases. For the first time in ex Yugoslavia and Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina, and second time in Europe serotype 8 of rota virus has been isolated in sample of feces.

The resolving of medical problems and medical decision making can not be imagined without information which have to be qualitative, on time and correct. These information, in essence, are high grade material that come from different sources. Health, respectively medical information are generated within health system as the result of every day doctors' activities. The most frequent sources of medical information are: medical documentation, reports about the work of medical staff, reviews, registers, reports about demographic and vital statistics, reports about medical activities etc. In the article we describe classification of medical information, and their most important characteristics, as the relevance and value of medical information. We emphasize the economic aspect of medical information as well.

In this paper significant changes have been presented concerning to the health legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period from 1970 till today. These changes could have had an effect on the changes in the health system as well as in the health status of the population. This is all aimed at achieving strategy and targets for Health for All by the year 2000. Certain systematic solutions for achieving strategy and targets exist in the health legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Law on health care the 1986), but they are set without clear content and holders of office. We could notice the absence of legislative support for resolving group of targets 13-17 and partially 32-38.

The state of organization and distribution of PHC networks in our Republic is not satisfactory. It is so mostly for the reason of absence of extramural PHC units in settlements, schools, and working collectives, i.e. unavailability of health care to the people and closeness of the health care system. A poll carried out among 1859 patients in the health centre waiting rooms in Bosnia and Herzegovina has shown that only 35.1% of the polled citizens--health care beneficiaries are satisfied with the work of doctors and nurses in PHC surgeries. The poll has also shown that about 65% of the patients of all age groups realize the health care protection only after long waiting and with some other difficulties. Then, 96% of the out-patients expressed their dissatisfaction with the organization of PHC, either owing to frequent changes of physicians, i.e. health personnel, or to inadequate working hours, waiting long etc. Only 6.5% of the polled patients said there were satisfied with the work of PHC service and did not ask for changes in the structure. The author in his paper quotes the principles on which a good PHC service should be based and proposes adequate measures for its promotion.

Organized health service in Bosnia and Herzegovina practically started by the treatment of the sick in the Hadji Sinan's Tekke that was founded in 1768. Before that, the civilian population had been mainly treated in their homes, while the army were treated in barracks or hired hans (inns). As late as the nineteenth century, health care was provided by quack doctors, treating physicians or surgeons and barbers, who were trained, beside the circumcision of male children, for tooth extraction, broken bone setting, and sometimes even for performing minor surgical operations (a specially trained barber called djerah). The first trained medical personnel were the Franciscans and Jews, who studied at the Universities of Italy, Austria, Hungary etc. The first Muslim trained physicians studied at the Medical Faculty in Istanbul. The first ones were: Dr. Mehmed Serbić and Dr. Zarif Skender, while the first Bosnian graduate in pharmacy was Jakov Sumbul. In Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina worked many a doctor who came from abroad. The majority of them converted to Islam and worked in the barracks, and later on in the Turkish Military Hospital when it was founded in Sarajevo. All of them played an important role in the prevention and treatment of the most frequent mass infectious and non-infectious diseases that were raging among the population--plague, cholera, syphilis, leprosy, tuberculosis, fungoid diseases etc.