Purpose: To compare access to medicines in children living in poor households (income of USD1/person/day) between urbanised Klang Valley and rural East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Methods: A semi-structured interview was conducted with caregivers to determine demographics, access to medicines, knowledge, attitude and practice of parents in obtaining medicines for children. Results: There was no significant difference socio-demographically between poor households in Klang Valley (N = 58) and East Coast (N = 40). The study found that access to medicine for children (N = 325) in the households was adequate, where all households that reported illness in the children over the last 1 month and the last 6 month periods, obtained medicines and 99 % of the children were fully immunized. Qualitative analysis showed that poor households face several barriers in accessing medicines for their children such as financial, transportation, physical and attitudinal. Conclusion: Access to medicines for children living in poor households in both areas were similar and adequate. However, barriers to access remain and further studies are required. � Pharmacotherapy Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Benin City, 300001 Nigeria. All rights reserved.

Nigella sativa (NS) is widely used in traditional medicine and several studies have been conducted to reveal NS effects on different medical disorders including hyperlipidemia. Since hyperlipidemia is a common risk factor for the development of cardiovascular illness. We evaluated the effects of NS supplementation on lipid profile in clinical trial performed among humans. A search on published studies was done by using databases including Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, Thomas Reuters Web of Science, and CINAHIL. Terms searched included "Nigella sativa, Black seed, Black cumin, Triglycerides, Cholesterol, Lipoproteins". Initially 432 articles were extracted. However, four hundred eighteen papers were unrelated, reviews, animal studies, combined and duplicated studies were excluded, and finally only fourteen articles were eligible for this review. After analysing 14 articles including 738 participants from different countries and nations. Results of these clinical trials revealed that Nigella sativa is effective to change the lipid profile significantly in different conditions. This systematic review revealed that Nigella sativa supplementation might be effective in hyperlipidemic control in humans and seems potential target of future drug for hyperlipidemic conditions. � 2017 Redhwan Ahmed Al-Naggar et al.