The cement industry is one of the most vital industries for the Egyptian economy, and occupational injuries constitute a major health problem for the working population. Burn injuries in the cement industry are among the main causes of economic loss to the country. This retrospective study of the period from 1991 to 1995 was conducted throughout the year 1995. The aims of the work were to determine the incidence and causes of burn accidents and the financial loss due to absence from work and to the cost of treatment and to define primary preventive measures against this type of burn. The mean annual number of factory workers in the 5-yr period period was 3200. The total number of burn accidents was 155. Most of the burn accidents occurred in the production department. The commonest cause of burn was contact with hot clinker or cement powder. The ankles and feet were the commonest parts of the body to be affected by burn, followed by the hands and wrists, and the head and neck. The total number of working days lost due to burns over the five years was 4776, with a mean of 31.0 ± 30.8 days per case. Despite the lack of specific training programmes and insufficient protective measures, the decreasing incidence of burn accidents towards the end of the period of study is a good sign that the factory authorities have become more aware of the importance of reducing the number of these catastrophic accidents.

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BACKGROUND: Uncorrected refractive errors are a public health problem especially among school children. It has a direct effect on learning and academic performance. AIMS OF THE STUDY: This study aims to assess the refractive errors among a representative sample of school children under ten in Assiut City, Egypt and to manage the discovered cases early. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Descriptive cross sectional study design was used. The students of primary schools in the first, second and third grades under ten years old were the focus of the study and they were selected by stratified random sampling technique. The calculated sample size was 196. Two tools were used in the study; the first one was a self administered questionnaire to collect sociodemographic data as child age, birth order, father's and mother's education and occupation, family history of wearing glasses, watching TV or using computer etc. The second tool was the eye examination by a Portable Auto-refractometer which has the advantages of accuracy, easy examination, being movable everywhere and provide printable eye status report. An eye examination record was used to register data about student's name, age. Data collection started from the first of March 2012 until the end of April 2012. Data were analyzed using SPSS soft program version 16. RESULTS: 241 students (107 males and 134 females) participated in the study but 142 only agreed to perform eye examination with 59% response rate. Ninety-five children (66.9%) had a significant refractive error of ±0.50 or worse in one or both eyes. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Significant refractive errors occur among primary school children aged 6 to 10 years. Therefore, there is a need to have regular and simple vision testing in primary school children to screen for refractive errors. This will enable to start corrective measures at the early stage and decrease visual disability.

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Al-Azahar Assiut Medical Journal September 2010, Vol.8 N.(3) Impact of child labor on psychosocial development of under fourteen years in Assiut city, Egypt. Eman S. Masoud,1 Salwa A. Marzouk2 and Safaa R. Mahmoud3 1Pediatric Nursing department, faculty of Nursing, Minia University and 2Pediatric Nursing department,3 Community health, faculty of Nursing, Assiut University. Abstract: Child labor is a pervasive problem in Egypt. For the last two decades there has been growing concern for child labor across the globe and several efforts are being made by the governments and civil society organizations to eliminate child labor. It has a great impact on child health whether psychosocially or physically. Objectives: this study aimed to assess the impact of child labor on the psychosocial development of under fourteen years in Assiut. Design: A descriptive research design was used in this study. Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted on 248 children divided equally into two groups (working children and school children). Data are collected using an interview questionnaire sheet. Results: the present results revealed that children work because the family is in need of financial support or children fail in school. Also, the results revealed that working children had lower score of anger control and had elevated scores regarding excessive suffering and weak ego strength. Conclusion: Even work has negative effect on their Psychosocial condition, but it also has positive effect as the children become independent. From the study results the researcher recommended that the ministry of manpower must have strict enforcement and real application of existing law against all forms of child labor.