Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine

By the end of the nineteenth century some countries that had trade relations with Iran established a quarantine stations at the southern ports. This was due to the spreading of cholera and pestilence especially in those regions as well as to a significant number of casualties. Later quarantines were adapted as a tool of colonial influence in order to pressurize the Iranian government.
In fact the quarantine was placed in critical frontiers caused a lot of problem for both the governments and people scattering quarrels in frontier quarantines and excessive letters between Iran and England.
In this review we aimed at surveying documents and papers remained from the past. Also in this review more attention has been paid to some issues which involve reasons of setting up quarantine stations in Iran and the resulted problems for government, frontiersman and pilgrims.

The Parthian rule was a major period in the history of Iran that lasted for nearly five centuries and may be investigated from various viewpoints. The lack of resources and cultural works pertaining to this period, however, is what sets it apart from most other eras in the history of Iran.

The Parthian dynasty enjoyed a relatively quiet rule, which indicates it was an advanced civilization with a highly developed system of healthcare. Nevertheless, our knowledge about the medical practices of the Parthian era is rather limited. The purpose of this study was to examine historical sources to shed a light on the attitude of the Parthian society to healthcare, and to explain the lack of resources on the subject.

One major problem that continued to threaten the Iranian society well into early twentieth century was the spread of epidemics and infectious diseases. Even though the Iranian civilization had been around for centuries, deaths resulting from such diseases caused the population to stay at approximately six million. Qajar kings and rulers were the first to attempt to control epidemic diseases by utilizing modern methods such as vaccination.

In 1919, Prince Firuz Mirza Nusrat al-Dawla was elected as head of the Iranian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. A member of this delegation and the ruler's personal physician was Dr. Mohammad Khan, who introduced Firuz Mirza to the Pasteur Institute upon arriving in Paris. Firuz Mirza was impressed by the activities of the Institute and decided to establish a similar institution in Iran.

Findings of the present study show that the establishment of this institution resulted in measures that, along with other activities initiated by the government in the field of public health, controlled the spread of many infectious diseases in Iran.

The invasion of Iran by Mongols in 1217 AD had a profound impact on different aspects of social life, in which some aspects still exist and are undeniable.

One of these aspects is Mongol’s folk medicine. A review of Iranian folk medicine in Qajar period shows how medicine in this period which was a mixture of oral culture and religious beliefs was influenced by Mongol’s folk medicine.

By comparing Mongol’s medicine and Iranian traditional medicine in Qajar period, this article elaborates on how Iranian traditional medicine was influenced by Mongols