The Bulletin of the World Health Organization is an international journal of public health with a special focus on developing countries. Since it was first published in 1948 the Bulletin has become one of the world's leading public health journals. As the flagship periodical of the World Health Organization (WHO) the Bulletin draws on WHO experts as editorial advisers reviewers and authors as well as on external collaborators. In this month's issue: Noncommunicable diseases and post-conflict countries; Prioritizing professional practice models for nurses in low-income countries; Incidence of influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory infection during three influenza seasons in Bangladesh 2008-2010; Availability of data for monitoring noncommunicable disease risk factors in India; Factors influencing rising caesarean section rates in China between 1988 and 2008; From pesticides to medicinal drugs: time series analyses of methods of self-harm in Sri Lanka; Service availability and utilization and treatment gap for schizophrenic disorders: a survey in 50 low- and middle-income countries; Health research systems: promoting health equity or economic competitiveness?; Eliminating the category II retreatment regimen from national tuberculosis programme guidelines: the Georgian experience; Collaboration to optimize dietary intakes of salt and iodine: a critical but overlooked public health issue.