PIP: In the 3 day workshop of the Southeast Asian Region on the Financial Management of Population/Family Planning Programs held from March 15 to 17 it was recommended that there by standardization of financial reporting procedures by country programs for population planning. Related to this recommendation was the proposal that measurement of cost benefit and cost effective analysis of country programs be undertaken by the Research and Evaluation Units of the respective population organizations in close coordination with the financial managers. Other major recommendations included: 1) closer coordination between donor agencies and policy making bodies of country programs in the disbursement of funds; 2) more exchange of experiences, ideas, technical knowledge on the financial management of country programs in the Inter G overnmental Coordinating Committee for Southeast Asian countries; and 3) inclusion of applicable financial management topics in the training of clinical staff and followup in actual operation. The priority areas identified for the Inter Governmental Coordinating Committee countries (Nepal, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines) are financial planning; generation of resources and budgeting and allocation of funds; accounting and disbursement of funds; financial management at the clinic level; use of and control of foreign aid; and cost effectiveness, benefit analysis and financial reporting.
PIP: 40 experts representing Nepal, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, and the Philippines participated in a 3-day workshop in Manila in March 1976 for the purpose of discussing and proposing ways of dealing with the financial problems confronting the population programs of the individual countries. The Inter-Governmental Coordinating Committee for Southeast Asia Family/Population Planning sponsored the workshop. The recommendations made at the meeting were: 1) standardization of financing reporting procedures by the region's country programs on family planning; 2) closer coordination between donor agencies and policy-making bodies of country programs in the disbursement of funds; 3) frequent exchanges of experiences, ideas, technicaL knowledge, and other matters pertaining to the financial management of such programs; and 4) inclusion of applicable financial management topics in the training of clinical staffs and those involved in follow-up operations. Additionally, a proposal was made that national population organizations or committees develop research and evaluation units. Workshop discussion sessions focused on financial planning and management, accounting and disbursement of funds, use and control of foreign aid, cost of effectiveness and benefit analysis, and financial reporting.
United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ESCAP. Population Division, United Nations. Department of International Economic and Social Affairs. Population Division. International Population Information Network POPIN
"A recent conference sponsored by the United Nations Center for Regional Development (UNCRD) in Nagoya, Japan examined the growing importance of labor migration for four major Asian labor importers (Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore) and five major labor exporters (Bangladesh, Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand).... The conference concluded that international labor migration would increase within Asia because the tight labor markets and rising wages which have stimulated Japanese investment in other Asian nations, for example, have not been sufficient to eliminate migration push and pull forces...."
Australia will fund 23 new HIV-AIDS projects in Southeast Asian countries, the government announced. "Asia is predicted to be the major growth area for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections over the next decade, " Minister for Development Cooperation Gordon Bilney said. "These projects, worth some $4.35 million over three years, will help meet the challenge of preventing the spread of the disease in the region." The projects--in Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia--emphasize education and prevention activities as well as programs which focus on the care and support of people living with HIV, Bilney said. He also said a variety of Australian and overseas organizations will implement the projects, many of which will feature the significant involvement of communities at risk and people with HIV. "It is in keeping with the fundamental spirit of the aid program that we should seek to share this expertise with our neighbors in the region." Bilney said one Australian success story--the creative "Streetwize comics" (publications in Australia which help street kids and under privileged kids understand HIV/AIDS problems)--will be piloted in Vietnam in conjunction with the Vietnam Youth Federation. He said Vietnamese staff will be trained in the production of a series of bilingual mini-comics on HIV-AIDS prevention for youth. "This project will receive funding of $187,500 over three years," Bilney said. Bilney said the projects would help minimize the individual and social impact of the epidemic in the targeted countries.
"The purpose of this article is to show the relationship among Japanese direct investment...,domestic labor markets, and international labor migration in ASEAN-4 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand). The effects of foreign direct investment on skilled labor migration are also considered."
"The main purpose here is to provide an overview of the social security arrangements in selected Southeast Asian countries. Given the significant differences in these countries in the underlying philosophy, design and detailed provisions concerning social security arrangements, a country-by-country rather than a comparative approach is adopted." The countries analyzed are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
This paper summarises the paper presentation sessions at the Conference, as well giving insights on the issues related to developing countries. It also discusses the present status of practice and research on water and wastewater management, and projected future scenario based not only on the papers presented in the Conference, but also on other sources. The strategy is presented to overcome many problems in developing countries such as rapid urbanization, industrialization, population growth, financial and institutional problems and, depleting water resources. The strategy consists of Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM), cleaner industrial production, waste minimisation and financial arrangements.
The main aim of this study is to get the Malaysian chief dentists’ perceptions of the oral health promotion activities currently taking place in their respective states in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of these activities. A qualitative method using an open-ended questionnaire was used to obtain this information. The study samples consist of all the chief dentists in Malaysia who represented a majority of population in their states. The results showed that the main current oral health promotion activities is dental health education talks which aims to disseminate oral health information through health education talks, toothbrushing drills, dental exhibition, pamphlets, brochures and publications. Half of the respondents felt that the commitment of the staff, the support of the public sectors and collaboration with other agencies are the main strengths while the lack of staff and fund has been said as the weaknesses. A range of opportunities however exist to strengthen oral health promotion in Malaysia.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disorder with many vascular complications, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Malaysia has risen dramatically from 6.3% (NHMS 1 in 1986); to 8.3% (NHMS 2 in 1996); and to 14.9% (NHMS 3 in 2006). An audit was conducted on patient's medical records from selected MOH health facilities to assess the control of diabetes using HbA1c. The response rate was 69.6% and the control of diabetes was poor. Only 18.4% of patients with valid HbA1c had value less than 6.5%. This is notably worst amongst patients from younger age groups. Many recommended investigations such as fundoscopy and urine microalbumin had not been done regularly. Efforts to look for various vascular complications were under-reported. About 45% of patients had been treated with 2 oral antidiabetic agents; mainly the sulphonylureas and the biguanides. Only 13.3% of patients were on insulin despite having poorly controlled disease. There is an urgent need to improve the management of diabetes mellitus in these areas:- (i) improving the glycemic control status (particularly among younger diabetic patients) with early and optimal use of oral diabetic drugs and insulin; (ii) stringent monitoring of glycemic control with adequate funds for regular performance of HbA1c (at least every 6 monthly for all diabetic patients) (iii) organizing regular updates or interactive programme for diabetes healthcare providers from primary, secondary and tertiary care; (iv) ensuring regular and prompt review of diabetic complications so that the complications can be dealt with early; (v) producing more diabetes educators to strengthen and standardize the diabetes education programme; and promote patients adherence to non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions.
Food and fuel prices have soared in recent years affecting most adversely the poor and those with fixed incomes. Since 2000, wheat price in the international market has more than tripled and maize prices have more than doubled. The price of rice, the staple of billions in Asia, has tripled in the past year. The surge of food prices has been blamed on multiple factors including higher energy and fertilizer costs, greater global demand, drought, the loss of arable land to biofuel crops and price speculation. In light of the spiraling rise in food prices, there is the prospect of increasing rates of under-nutrition worldwide. As it is, 800 million are estimated to be suffering from chronic malnourishment, with another 2.1 billion people living close to subsistence levels on less than US$2 a day. Some perspectives of the food production experience of Malaysia are shared here as a case of a country that has built up capabilities and resources through high level of foreign and domestic investment leading to a diversified economy. In response to the recent surge in the price of rice, the Malaysian government announced the setting up of a dedicated fund amounting to US$1.25 billion to increase production of food including fruits and vegetables, and targeting 100% self-sufficiency in rice, by growing rice on a massive scale in Sarawak. During the current five-year development plan for the period of 2006-2010, (Ninth Malaysia Plan), the role of the agriculture sector is considerably enhanced to be the third pillar of economic growth, after manufacturing and services. Among the measures taken, are those aimed at increasing incomes of smallholders and fishermen mainly through improving productivity. These measures include encouraging more rice farmers to participate in mini-estates and group farming, providing financial assistance to rehabilitate cocoa, pepper and sago smallholdings, enhancing the capabilities of coastal fishermen, and setting up of a special program to assist poor households in the agriculture sector to diversify their sources of income. The various socio-economic programs in Malaysia that have been put in place over the years may have cushioned to some extent so far the severity of the dramatic hikes in food prices.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 stated that everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international cooperation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality. Equity, solidarity and social justice are understood as basic characteristics of universal access to social health protection founded on burden sharing, risk pooling, empowerment and participation. It is up to national governments and institutions to put these values into practice. The financing of social health protection can be through a mixture of taxation and contributions to public and mandated private insurance. Through risk pooling, these funds provide for equity, solidarity and affordability of services. According to International Labour Organization (ILO), ultimate objective in social health protection is to achieve universal social health protection coverage defined as effective access to affordable health care of adequate quality and financial protection. Social protection plays a vital part in reducing the vulnerability of the poor so that they can fruitfully access health and education services.
Gambling and speculation which leads to zero-sum outcomes are prohibited in Islamic finance and condemned in conventional finance. This article explores the reasons for the similarity of objections towards gambling and speculation. Three probable reasons are explored namely the concept of stewardship in conventional thought and the concept of khalifa in Islam, Christianity and morality's influence on conventional law and finance and the concept of ethics of sacrifice and ethics of tolerance.