Three epidemiological surveys have been carried out in Malaysia since 1971. All showed a high level of caries prevalence. Ninety per cent of school children between the ages of 6 and 18 suffered from dental caries, with a DMFT of approximately 3 and a dft of approximately 2. Ninety-five per cent of the adult population had caries experience, with the mean DMFT being 13.2. Approximately 55 per cent of children showed the presence of gingivitis with the mean number of inflamed gingival units per child ranging from 1.9 to 2.8, while 72.4 per cent of adults had some form of periodontal disease with 29 per cent having pockets deeper than 3 mm. The OHI-S score for adults was 2.2 and 81 per cent used toothbrushes to clean their teeth. A further 5.1 per cent used twigs and fingers with powdered charcoal or salt. One-third of the child population needed orthodontic treatment, with 0.3 per cent examined in peninsular Malaysia having cleft lip or palate or both. In the adult population 10.4 per cent of those examined required some form of orthodontic treatment. Twenty per cent of the children in the survey were in need of dentures; 54.7 per cent of the adults were either in need of dentures or were wearing dentures. Of these 25 per cent had complete dentures. The smoking habit was most commonly associated with pre-cancerous/cancerous lesions with alcohol consumption a close competitor; 114 adults, that is 1.3 per cent of those examined, suffer from leukoplakia but only one case of oral cancer was detected.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Matched MeSH terms: Child Health Services; Dental Health Services; Health Services
Singapore is an island republic of 616 km2. Four main ethnic groups make up its population of 2.4 million; these are the Chinese, Malays, Indians and others. Singapore's successful housing, industrialization and modernization programmes have caused tremendous changes in the lifestyles and expectations of the people. This very success has rendered some traditional customs impractical and irrelevant. Older Indians and Malay women still chew betel-nut. During the Hindu Thaipusam ceremony a traditional practice of dental interest is the piercing of devotees' cheeks and tongues with slivers of silver. There is no pain, bleeding or permanent tissue damage. The Chinese pick their teeth, crack melon seeds and scrape their tongues every morning. They also drink large quantities of unsweetened tea. Yet they remain caries-prone. Singaporeans have recently adopted the practice of eating at all hours of the day and night. This may have a bearing on their future caries state. Singapore has two categories of dental practitioner: the graduate and the registered but unqualified dentist who is invariably of Chinese descent. The swaged metal crown over sound and diseased tooth structure is frequently the unfortunate trademark of the latter. Often abscesses and cysts develop beneath these crowns. Successful dental health programmes have produced a DMFT of 2.8 in 12-year-old children, which betters the DMF target of 3.0 set by WHO for the year 2000. The progressive outlook of Singaporeans may eventually reduce further the number of traditional practices which are harmful to oral health.
PIP:
The NADI program (pulse in Malay) was initially launched as a pilot project in 1980 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It utilized an integrated approach involving both the government and the private sectors. By sharing resources and expertise, and by working together, the government and the people can achieve national development faster and with better results. The agencies work through a multi-level supportive structure, at the head of which is the steering committee. The NADI teams at the field level are the focal points of services from the various agencies. Members of NADI teams also work with urban poor families as well as health groups, parents-teachers associations, and other similar groups. The policy and planning functions are carried out by the steering committee, the 5 area action committees and the community action committees, while the implementation function is carried out by the area program managers and NADI teams. The chairman of each area action committee is the head of the branch office of city hall. Using intestinal parasite control as the entry point, the NADI Integrated Family Development Program has greatly helped in expanding inter-agency cooperation and exchange of experiences by a coordinated, effective and efficient resource-mobilization. The program was later expanded to other parts of the country including the industrial and estate sectors. Services provided by NADI include: comprehensive health services to promote maternal and child health; adequate water supply, proper waste disposal, construction of latrines and providing electricity; and initiating community and family development such as community education, preschool education, vocational training, family counseling and building special facilities for recreational and educational purposes.
Matched MeSH terms: Community Health Services*; Health Services*; Health Services Administration*
PIP: Resolutions adopted by the 12th Annual Asian Parasite Control/Family Planning (APCO/FP) Conference held in Colombo, Sri Lanka urge the incorporation of quality of life issues of all dimensions in projects of all participating countries. 1 study discussed during the conference concerned health volunteers of the integrated project in Sri Lanka, which analyzes motivating factors which make community young people work on a voluntary basis. Another topic covered was the role of women in the achievement of primary health care. Video reports were presented by Bangladesh on family planning and parasite control activities, Brazil on utilization of existing organizations to improve successful integrated projects, China on making twin concerns of family planning and primary health care, Indonesia on strengthening urban FP/MCH clinics, Korea on health promotion through the integrated project, Malaysia on the NADI program, the Philippines on the Cebu model of integrated health care, and Thailand on fee charging urban programs.
This paper examines four drug rehabilitation systems in Malaysia from an organizational perspective. It focuses on authority structures in rehabilitation centres and their impact on rehabilitees' identities. The findings show that there are important differences between government-run and private centres in terms of administration and approach to therapy. Some policy implications are derived from a comparison of these systems.
Matched MeSH terms: Community Mental Health Services/organization & administration
Selected students were subjected to a general health appraisal including vision and hearing tests by teachers, nurses and finally a medical officer. The findings of all three examiners were then compared taking the results of the medical officer as the indicator of accuracy. The findings of the survey indicated that the problems of school children were similar to those reported by other workers and by MCH Division of the Ministry of Health namely dental caries, head lice, malnutrition, skin infections and visual disability. Other problems like skeletal deformity and abnormalities of heart, lung, speech and behaviour were extremely uncommon and formed only 1.5% of the total. Teachers and nurses performed extremely well in relation to the doctor with 93% and 95.8% concurrence respectively in detecting these abnormalities. Teachers were also requested to give a feedback on their view of and role in the SHS as well as problems faced in following the school health card. The majority perceived the SHS as a joint effort between the Ministry of Health and Education and agreed that they had a role to play in the SHS. Many teachers also indicated a willingness to carry out the various tasks in the SHS. The main problem in filling the school health card seemed to be in getting relevant details from parents though over 50% of teachers complained that there were too many details to fill. The role of teachers in the SHS is discussed in the light of the findings of the study and recommendations are made.