Tenth Annual Congress of Iranian Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society & Sixth Memorial of Professor Ahmad Siadati is held in Tehran at University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences on 19-21 November 2014. In his opening speech before the proclaimed congress, Dr. Zali, IRIMC President, highlighted the role of Iranian pediatricians in national health system. "Iranian pediatricians can be considered as pioneers of participating in CME programs and use of latest medical findings in their practice." Dr. Zali remarked.

He mentioned that diagnosis and management of pediatric patients are strongly difficult as the clinical manifestations of pediatric diseases are complicated. On the other hand, children and particularly neonates differ from adults in their response to drugs. Special care is needed in ensuring the drug prescribed is appropriate and that the correct dosage has been administered. Children's medicine dosage may be calculated from adult doses by using age, body weight or body-surface area or by a combination of these factors that implies the difficulty of drug prescription for children. Furthermore adverse drug reaction profiles in children may differ from those observed in adults which demands thorough consideration.

IRIMC President praised national pediatricians and said:"Pediatricians are often viewed as trusted individuals who are familiar with the child and family and they render high quality services to their patients. Despite the challenges they face in everyday practice and their best endeavor in national health system, much of their medical claims have been neglected." Although he expressed his optimism about ameliorating the situation by close cooperation between IRI Medical Council and Medical Associations. "The collaborative program between IRIMC & medical associations would be led to introduce practical measures. The measures would be included in National Health System Reform Plan and by the effective implementations of them, the problem would be tackled." Dr. Zali said.

Dr. Shima Naghavi, Director of International Affairs