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Deworming/family planning project launched on estate

Siva V

Asian Pac Popul Programme News, 1979;8(1):24-5.
PMID: 12309491

PIP: A deworming/family planning project funded by JOICFP was successfully initiated in Kerling Estate, Kuala Kubu Bahru, Malaysia. Rapport between estate management, workers, and the National Family Planning Board helped establish the project. A recent Gotong-Royong or community self-help project had encouraged enthusiasm among workers to clean up the estate. Mothers were exhorted to plan their families and devote attention to the health and welfare of the children. The need for parents to understand the causes of infestation and educate their children to wear slippers or shoes and develop good toilet habits was emphasized by Dr. Nor Laily Aziz. Continuing National Family Planning Board and Government support was pledged.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies*
Sri Lanka drops leading condom

Soc Mark Forum, 1984;1(4):1,5.
PMID: 12266328
Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies
Guidelines and policies on collection of biological specimens in the Philippines. Philippine Congress, International Convention on Biodiversity

Madulid DA

J Ethnopharmacol, 1996 Apr;51(1-3):205-8.
PMID: 9213618

In October, 1993, 16 months after the United Nations approved the International Convention on Biodiversity held in Rio de Janeiro, June, 1992, the Philippine Congress ratified and adopted the Convention. This is a manifestation of the full support of the Philippines for the principles and policies adopted by the UN body on the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable development of biological resources and equitable sharing of benefits between users and owners of biodiversity resources. The Philippine scientific community has long recognized the need for and importance of a national guideline and policy with regard to the collection of plants and animals in the Philippines for scientific or commercial purposes. A series of consultative meetings were held by representatives of government agencies, non-government organizations, private organizations, academic and private persons concerned with biodiversity conservation to formulate national guidelines that regulate the collection of plant and animal specimens in the country. Guidelines were unanimously adopted by various government agencies and academia and a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed on September 28, 1990. Very recently a new document was drafted, specifically to serve as a guideline for those who desire to undertake sample collecting in the Philippines for biodiversity prospecting. The document is now being reviewed by government departments and agencies and will be presented to the President of the Philippines for signing as an Executive Order (EO). Once signed, this EO will serve as a national policy for bioprospecting in the country. The Philippines is one of the countries in Southeast Asia that has endorsed the adoption of regional guidelines on the collection of plant and animal organisms for drug development. The ASEAN Agreement on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (1985). The Manila Declaration (1992) and lately, the Melaka Accord (1994), all of which were signed by various countries in Asia, are manifestations of this interest.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies
Seeking representation in policy-making governmental bodies

Abu Bakar S

Malays J Pathol, 1997 Dec;19(2):93-7.
PMID: 10879247
Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies/legislation & jurisprudence; Government Agencies/trends*
Governing agricultural progress: a genealogy of the politics of pest control in Malaysia

Triantafillou P

Comp Stud Soc Hist, 2001;43(1):193-221.
PMID: 17941160
Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies/economics; Government Agencies/history; Government Agencies/legislation & jurisprudence
Cost efficiency and cost effectiveness of cataract surgery at the Malaysian Ministry of Health ophthalmic services

Loo CY, Kandiah M, Arumugam G, Goh PP, John E, Gurusami B, et al.

Int Ophthalmol, 2004 Mar;25(2):81-7.
PMID: 15290886

PURPOSE: To determine the cost efficiency and to compare the cost effectiveness of conventional extracapsular cataract surgery (ECCE) and phacoemulsification at three hospitals of the Malaysian Ministry of Health (MOH).
METHODS: Patient demography, pre-operative visual acuity, intra-operative complications, post-operative complications and post-operative visual acuity were recorded for two hundred and forty seven of the 400 patients who underwent cataract surgery during a 2-week period. The cost of surgery, which included capital, staff and overhead, and patient care consumable costs were assessed prospectively in 8 randomly sampled patients over a 3-month period. Cost efficiency refers to cost per cataract surgery. Cost effectiveness refers to cost per successful cataract surgery. This is estimated by the ratio of cost efficiency to the proportion of successful cataract surgery. Successful surgery was defined as best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of better than 6/12 at 3 months post-operatively.
RESULTS: Proportion of patients who had post-operative visual acuity of 6/12 or better was higher in phacoemulsification group (94%) than in the ECCE group (81%). Conventional extracapsular cataract surgery with intraocular lens implant costs RM3442 (USD 905.79) and phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implant costs RM4288 (USD 1128.42).
DISCUSSION: There was no significant difference in cost effectiveness between ECCE and phacoemulsification. The cost of cataract surgery in the MOH hospital was found to be high due to the high overhead costs.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies
Model for the implementation of the globally harmonized system of classification and labelling of chemicals (GHS): lessons learned from Japan

Ta GC, Jonai H, Mokhtar MB, Peterson PJ

J Occup Health, 2009;51(6):526-30.
PMID: 19834280
Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies/organization & administration*
Fulltext Investigator-initiated clinical trials in Malaysia and the role of the Clinical Research Centre of the Ministry of Health

Sivanandam AF, Hon YK, Yuen S, Muninathan P, Goh PP, Lim TO

Med J Malaysia, 2010 Jun;65 Suppl A:138-42.
PMID: 21488475

The objective of this review is to better understand the concept of investigator-initiated trials and its benefits. While investigator-initiated trials can be an invaluable tool, there are several challenges in its initiation and management. However, it is for these reasons that Clinical Research Centre (CRC) had developed the Investigator Initiated Trial (IIT) Programme where financial support and technical assistance are provided to local investigators embarking on their own clinical trials. In the course of preparing the review, we found that the inclination of investigator-initiated trials has yet to be well established in Ministry of Health, Malaysia. Given the potential and impact of such trials, clinicians should be aware of their ability as well as the availability of a supportive network in mobilising their concerted research efforts. Greater research collaboration among investigators could foster more innovative, insightful and constructive research.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies*
Fulltext Health-care data collecting, sharing, and using in Thailand, China mainland, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Malaysia

Aljunid SM, Srithamrongsawat S, Chen W, Bae SJ, Pwu RF, Ikeda S, et al.

Value Health, 2012 2 1;15(1 Suppl):S132-8.
PMID: 22265060 DOI: 10.1016/j.jval.2011.11.004

This article sought to describe the health-care data situation in six selected economies in the Asia-Pacific region. Authors from Thailand, China mainland, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Malaysia present their analyses in three parts. The first part of the article describes the data-collection process and the sources of data. The second part of the article presents issues around policies of data sharing with the stakeholders. The third and final part of the article focuses on the extent of health-care data use for policy reform in these different economies. Even though these economies differ in their economic structure and population size, they share some similarities on issues related to health-care data. There are two main institutions that collect and manage the health-care data in these economies. In Thailand, China mainland, Taiwan, and Malaysia, the Ministry of Health is responsible through its various agencies for collecting and managing the health-care data. On the other hand, health insurance is the main institution that collects and stores health-care data in South Korea and Japan. In all economies, sharing of and access to data is an issue. The reasons for limited access to some data are privacy protection, fragmented health-care system, poor quality of routinely collected data, unclear policies and procedures to access the data, and control on the freedom on publication. The primary objective of collecting health-care data in these economies is to aid the policymakers and researchers in policy decision making as well as create an awareness on health-care issues for the general public. The usage of data in monitoring the performance of the heath system is still in the process of development. In conclusion, for the region under discussion, health-care data collection is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and health insurance agencies. Data are collected from health-care providers mainly from the public sector. Routinely collected data are supplemented by national surveys. Accessibility to the data is a major issue in most of the economies under discussion. Accurate health-care data are required mainly to support policy making and evidence-based decisions.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies/organization & administration*
Fulltext A qualitative study of governance of evolving response to non-communicable diseases in low-and middle- income countries: current status, risks and options

Rani M, Nusrat S, Hawken LH

BMC Public Health, 2012;12:877.
PMID: 23067232 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-877

Segmented service delivery with consequent inefficiencies in health systems was one of the main concerns raised during scaling up of disease-specific programs in the last two decades. The organized response to NCD is in infancy in most LMICs with little evidence on how the response is evolving in terms of institutional arrangements and policy development processes.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies/organization & administration
Insights into public export promotion programs in an emerging economy: the case of Malaysian SMEs

Ayob AH, Freixanet J

Eval Program Plann, 2014 Oct;46:38-46.
PMID: 24907593 DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2014.05.005

This study evaluates the impact of public export promotion programs (EPPs) among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Three indicators, level of awareness, frequency of use, and perception of usefulness, were examined according to a firm's export status. The global evaluation suggests that exporters are more frequent users of EPPs and perceive them to be more useful than non-exporters. Nonetheless, both groups demonstrate higher levels of awareness, are frequent users, and perceive the programs relating to export info/knowledge are more usefulness than programs relating to financial assistance. Further analysis also reveals that the frequency of use and the perception of usefulness for most programs are positively related to export experience, but not to export turnover. This study offers insights into the effectiveness of export programs for encouraging export initiation and expansion in an emerging economy.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among assembly workers in Malaysia

Roseni Abdul Aziz, Mat Rebi Abdul Rani, Jafri Mohd Rohani, Ademola James Adeyemi

Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2014;11(1):33-38.
MyJurnal

Studies have identified working postures as a major risk factors associated with Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) in industries. This study investigated the prevalence of WMSD among assembly workers in Malaysia and how psychosocial factors such as personal values and workers relationship with family and superior are associated with discomfort and pain. A survey was conducted among 127 workers at assembly process in the manufacturing industry. The workers were aged 28.74±6.74 years and 64.6% of them were males. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the effect of workplace factors on WMSD at different body regions. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to investigate association between psychosocial factors and occurrence of discomfort and pain. Only occupation and job activities revealed any significant different with WMSD in the major body regions while there was no significant difference in gender, age and work duration classifications. Shoulder painis the most prevalent in terms of frequency and intensity of occurrence. Psychosocial issues that have to do with person values, effect of job on family relationship and workers rapport with superiors are all found to be associated with the discomfort and pain among the occupational group. Employers and concerned government agencies need to take more proactive steps in tackling the problem as the occurrence of WMSD will have a significant effect on the overall wellbeing of the working population.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies
Fulltext Comparison of physical activity prevalence among international physical activity questionnaire (ipaq), steps/day, and accelerometer in a sample of government employees in Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia

Hazizi, A. S., Zahratul Nur, K., Mohd Nasir, M. T., Zaitun, Y., Tabata, I.

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2014;22(2):401-417.
MyJurnal

The aim of this study was to compare physical activity prevalence estimates among the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), steps/day, and accelerometer in a sample of government employees in Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia. Ten government agencies in Kangar were randomly chosen, and all employees were invited to participate. A self-administered questionnaire was employed to obtain information on socio-demographic characteristics and a physical activity assessment using the IPAQ. Anthropometric measurements, which include measurements of weight, height, body mass index, percent body fat, waist and hip circumference, were carried out. An accelerometer was used to assess total daily energy expenditure and the number of steps/day. A total of 272 respondents were involved in this study with a response rate of 83.2%. According to IPAQ, accelerometer and steps/day, the majority of the respondents (22.0%, 55.1%, and 77.6%, respectively) were classified as sedentary. The agreement between physical activity level as determined by the accelerometer vs. the IPAQ (Kappa=-0.46 {95% CI -0.384,-0.536}, p=0.238) and the IPAQ vs. steps/day (Kappa =0.037 {95% CI 0.090,-0.016}, p=0.175) was not significant, but the agreement between physical activity level as determined by the accelerometer vs. steps/day was classified as fair (Kappa=0.296 (95% CI 0.392, 0.200}, p

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies
Evaluation performance of time series approach for forecasting air pollution index in Johor, Malaysia

Nur Haizum Abd Rahman, Muhammad Hisyam Lee, Suhartono, Mohd Talib Latif

Sains Malaysiana, 2016;45:1625-1633.

The air pollution index (API) has been recognized as one of the important air quality indicators used to record the
correlation between air pollution and human health. The API information can help government agencies, policy makers
and individuals to prepare precautionary measures in order to eliminate the impact of air pollution episodes. This study
aimed to verify the monthly API trends at three different stations in Malaysia; industrial, residential and sub-urban areas.
The data collected between the year 2000 and 2009 was analyzed based on time series forecasting. Both classical and
modern methods namely seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) and fuzzy time series (FTS) were
employed. The model developed was scrutinized by means of statistical performance of root mean square error (RMSE).
The results showed a good performance of SARIMA in two urban stations with 16% and 19.6% which was more satisfactory
compared to FTS; however, FTS performed better in suburban station with 25.9% which was more pleasing compared
to SARIMA methods. This result proved that classical method is compatible with the advanced forecasting techniques in
providing better forecasting accuracy. Both classical and modern methods have the ability to investigate and forecast
the API trends in which can be considered as an effective decision-making process in air quality policy.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies
Fulltext Biosimilars in Developed and Developing East and Southeast Asian Countries: Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia-Overview, Evolution, and Regulations Assessment

Bas TG, Oliu Castillo C

Biomed Res Int, 2016;2016:5910403.
PMID: 27213153 DOI: 10.1155/2016/5910403

The development of biological products has experienced continuous growth over the past three decades. The expiration of patent protection for many biological medicines has led to the development of biosimilars in many countries around the world. This paper reviews the literature on biosimilar drugs and covers their therapeutic status, clinical trials, approved biosimilars, and regulatory guidelines in Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia. The literature suggests that biosimilars are comparable but not identical to the reference product. They are not a generic version of an innovative product and do not ensure therapeutic equivalence. Biosimilars present more challenges than conventional generics and their marketing approval is also much more complicated. Guidelines for biosimilars were published in Japan in July 2009 by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), in South Korea in March 2009 by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), and in Malaysia in July 2008 by the National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau (NPCB).

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies/legislation & jurisprudence*
Fulltext Transgender women in Malaysia, in the context of HIV and Islam: a qualitative study of stakeholders' perceptions

Barmania S, Aljunid SM

BMC Int Health Hum Rights, 2017 10 18;17(1):30.
PMID: 29047415 DOI: 10.1186/s12914-017-0138-y

BACKGROUND: Globally, one of the key groups considered to be at high risk of acquiring HIV are transgender women, often a marginalised group. In the Malaysian context there has been a scarcity of published research relating to transgender women, a sensitive issue in a Muslim majority country, where Islam plays an influential role in society. Furthermore, there has been a paucity of research relating to how such issues relate to HIV prevention in transgender women in Malaysia. Thus, the aim of this study is to explore the attitudes of stakeholders involved in HIV prevention policy in Malaysia towards transgender women, given the Islamic context.
METHODS: In-depth interviews were undertaken with stakeholders involved in HIV prevention, Ministry of Health, Religious Leaders and People Living with HIV, including transgender women. Thirty five participants were recruited using purposive sampling from June to December 2013 within Kuala Lumpur and surrounding vicinities. Interviews were in person, audiotaped, transcribed verbatim and used a framework analysis.
RESULTS: Five central themes emerged from the qualitative data; Perceptions of Transgender women and their place in Society; Reaching out to Transgender Women; Islamic doctrine; 'Cure', 'Correction' and finally, Stigma and Discrimination.
DISCUSSION: Islamic rulings about transgenderism were often the justification given by participants chastising transgender women, whilst there were also more progressive attitudes and room for debate. Pervasive negative attitudes and stigma and discrimination created a climate where transgender women often felt more comfortable with non-governmental organisations.
CONCLUSION: The situation of transgender women in Malaysia and HIV prevention is a highly sensitive and challenging environment for all stakeholders, given the Muslim context and current legal system. Despite this apparent impasse, there are practically achievable areas that can be improved upon to optimise HIV prevention services and the environment for transgender women in Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies
Fulltext Determinants of metabolic syndrome among Malaysian government employees

Chee, Huei Phing, Hazizi Abu Saad, Barakatun Nisak Mohd Yusof, Mohd Nasir Mohd Taib

International Medical Journal Malaysia, 2018;17(1):87-92.
MyJurnal

Introduction: The metabolic syndrome comprises a collection of cardiovascular disease risks, which has been demonstrated to predict type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. Metabolic syndrome is a crucial health concern in Malaysia, with a prevalence of about 42.5% in the general population based on the ‘Harmonized’ definition. The aim of this study was to ascertain the association between socioeconomic status among Malaysian government employees with metabolic syndrome, compared with those without metabolic syndrome. Furthermore, this study also aimed to ascertain the associated obesity indicators for metabolic syndrome among employees—explicitly body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, body fat percentage, fat mass index, and waist-to-height ratio. Methods: This cross-sectional study was
undertaken at government agencies in Putrajaya, Malaysia, via multi-stage random sampling. A total of 675 government employees were randomly sampled from a list of 3,173 government employees working in five government agencies under five geographical areas. Data on socioeconomic status, anthropometric, biochemical, and clinical assessments were collected. Results: Employees who were males had higher metabolic syndrome prevalence compared to their counterparts (p=0.019). In addition, employees aged between 20 to younger than 30 years had lowest metabolic syndrome prevalence (p=0.002). The risk of having metabolic syndrome was almost 10 times more likely in men with a waist-to-hip ratio of ≥0.90 compared to men with a waist-to-hip ratio of

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies
Fulltext Using mathematics to quantify subjective decisions: application of analytic hierarchy process to risk assessment

Rabihah Md. Sum

Journal of Advanced Research Design, 2018;44(1):7-19.
MyJurnal

Risk management requires human judgements, from risk identification, assessment to response. Although automated tools are useful in handling large amounts of data and in performing complex calculations rapidly, humans undertake the entire risk management process. They bring to the process their intuitions, insights, previous experiences and skills. Therefore, creating a rich source of information of risks faced by an organisation. Ignoring human factors may impoverish information and limit risk management to only measurable factors. This study contributes to the field of decision-making and risk assessment by investigating and discussing in detail how to quantify subjective judgements using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). AHP is used to assess risk of an insurance company. It discusses how to do risk assessment by combining both intuition and analytic in the decision-making process. The study defines intuition as knowledge and experience, and analytic as the mathematics or quantitative analysis to derive the result. It demonstrates how Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) - a flexible multi-attribute or multi-criteria decision making tool, enables risk managers to use both intuition and analytic to do risk assessment. Risk assessment using AHP produces global priority weights representing the overall risk ranking of an insurance company. The study develops a risk assessment problem and uses AHP to organise and structure risks and sub-risks of the problem. It uses formative evaluation method with open-ended questionnaires to obtain feedbacks from risk managers on AHP. Three employees of a risk management department in a government agency assesses the risks using AHP. AHP strengths are easy to use and understand, improves risk assessment and useful for risk assessment problems that have scarce or no data. AHP limitation are the numbers and repetitiveness of the pairwise comparisons. The participants either ignore some of the pairwise questions or they answer randomly instead of deliberate judgements.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies
Fulltext Health Information Engagement Factors in Malaysia: A Content Analysis of Facebook Use by the Ministry of Health in 2016 and 2017

A Rahim AI, Ibrahim MI, A Salim FN, Ariffin MAI

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2019 02 18;16(4).
PMID: 30781691 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16040591

Health organizations have widely adopted social media for health promotion, public health communication conveyance, and organizational promotion activities. However, little published data exists on the factors that facilitate health information diffusion in South East Asia, especially Malaysia compared with Western countries. This study aimed to investigate factors associated with good engagement rates among internet users on the Facebook (FB) page of Ministry of Health Malaysia. In this observational study, 2123 FB posts were randomly selected. Data dated from 1 November 2016 to 31 October 2017 was gathered from the Facebook Insight. The logistic regression model was applied to identify factors associated with good engagement rates. This study found that a FB post with a good engagement rate was significantly associated with a health education post (Adjusted Odd Ratio (AOR): 3.80, 95% Confidence Interval CI: 3.02⁻4.78, p < 0.001), a risk communication post (AOR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.39⁻2.26, p < 0.001), a post in the afternoon (AOR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.34⁻2.31, p < 0.001) or in the evening (AOR: 1.48, 95% CI: 1.20⁻1.82, p < 0.001), and a video format (AOR: 3.74, 95% CI: 1.44⁻9.71, p = 0.007). Therefore, we present the first comprehensive analysis of health information engagement among internet users in Malaysia. The growing trends of online health information-seeking behaviors and demand for the availability of validated health information require effective strategies by public health organizations to disseminate health information and achieve better audience engagement on social media.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies
Fulltext Car lease swap business: its mechanism and owner’s choice in Malaysia

NOORIHA ABDULLAH, MOHD FAIZOL RIZAL MOHD RASID, NURHAFIZAH NORMAN@ZAKARIA

Malaysian Journal of Qualitative Research, 2019;5(1):41-49.
MyJurnal

This paper describes the Malaysian car owners’ preference to purchase their car through car lease swap arrangement. Since owning a car nowadays is a necessity for most individuals, people will try to find the easiest and fastest way to own a car. Hence, the aim of this paper is to describe the issues of car lease swap businesses conducted in Malaysia, in particular to understand the reasons, business mechanism, and benefits of buying a car via this method. Due to limited empirical studies on car lease swap arrangement in Malaysia, the research adopted a qualitative approach, which utilises the snowball method to identify its participants. Interviews were conducted with relevant parties, who were directly involved in car lease swap business, which include the car lease dealers, the car owners and third parties (buyers). The findings indicate that the car lease dealers were the most to gain out of this business, meanwhile the car owners were worse off. Compared to the third parties, the car owners benefited from the convenient arrangement of the business. Nevertheless, due to its vague legality, it is possible to have negative implications on all parties involved. As such, future research should look at all parties involved in investigating the issues of this car lease swap business, such as relevant government agencies and all other stakeholders.

Matched MeSH terms: Government Agencies

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