MyMedR

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.

Matched MeSH terms: Asia; Asia, Southeastern

Clinical features and management of Plasmodium knowlesi infections in humans

Daneshvar C, William T, Davis TME

Parasitology, 2018 01;145(1):18-31.

PMID: 28122651 DOI: 10.1017/S0031182016002638

Plasmodium knowlesi is a simian malaria of primarily the macaque species of South East Asia. While it was known that human infections could be induced during the years of malariotherapy, naturally occurring P. knowlesi human infections were thought to be rare. However, in 2004, knowlesi infections became recognized as an important infection amongst human populations in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Since then, it has become recognized as a disease affecting people living and visiting endemic areas across South East Asia. Over the last 12 years, clinical studies have improved our understanding of this potentially fatal disease. In this review article the current literature is reviewed to give a comprehensive description of the disease and treatment.

Matched MeSH terms: Asia, Southeastern/epidemiology

Public Health Implications of African Swine Fever in Asia

Binns C, Low WY

Asia Pac J Public Health, 2019 11;31(8):677-678.

PMID: 31762300 DOI: 10.1177/1010539519889539

Matched MeSH terms: Asia/epidemiology

Sea water shaping the freshwater biota: Hidden diversity and biogeographic history in the Paracanthocobitis zonalternans species complex (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae) in western Southeast Asia

Bohlen J, Dvořák T, Šlechta V, Šlechtová V

Mol Phylogenet Evol, 2020 07;148:106806.

PMID: 32247884 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106806

Western Southeast Asia is hosting one of the world's most diverse faunas, and one of the reasons for this huge diversity is the complex geologic past of the area, increasing the frequency of isolation and expansion events over evolutionary time scale. As an example case, the present study reveals the phylogeny and biogeographic history of the Paracanthocobitis zonalternans species complex, small benthic freshwater fish (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae) that are commonly occurring across western Southeast Asia (from central Myanmar through western and southern Thailand to northern Malaysia). The group is particularly interesting since it occurs in three biogeographic subdivisions (Indian, Indochinese, Malay/Sundaic) and across all of the major biogeographic barriers in the region. Basing on mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data of 93 samples from about 50 localities we found six major clades, most with exclusive geographic distribution. Divergence time dated the origin of the P. zonalternans species complex to early Miocene (17.8 MYA) and a biogeographic analysis identified the Tenasserim region as the ancestral region. From this region the fish spread during periods of lowered global sea level, particularly during late Miocene (11-8 MYA) northwards into all Burmese river basins and southwards into south Thailand and northern Malaysia. Besides lowered global sea level periods, local stream capture events allowed the complex to expand, e.g. into the Mae Klong basin. Strong fragmentations during periods with elevated sea level during the Pliocene and Pleistocene repeatedly restricted populations to refuges and shaped the observed major lineages. Our results document a higher diversity within the P. zonalternans species complex than formerly believed and a strong impact of global sea level on its evolutionary history. Low sea levels promoted dispersal and elevated sea levels fragmentation events. A very similar impact of sea level changes can be expected in all stationary fauna (freshwater and terrestrial) in all non-mountainous coastal regions worldwide.

Matched MeSH terms: Asia, Southeastern; Asia, Western

Parkinson's disease in the Western Pacific Region

Lim SY, Tan AH, Ahmad-Annuar A, Klein C, Tan LCS, Rosales RL, et al.

Lancet Neurol, 2019 09;18(9):865-879.

PMID: 31175000 DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(19)30195-4

1·8 billion people of diverse ethnicities and cultures live in the Western Pacific Region. The increasing longevity of populations in this region is a major contributor to the exponential increase in Parkinson's disease prevalence worldwide. Differences exist between Parkinson's disease in the Western Pacific Region and in Europe and North America that might provide important insights into our understanding of the disease and approaches to management. For example, some genetic factors (such as LRRK2 mutations or variants) differ, environmental exposures might play differential roles in modulating the risk of Parkinson's disease, and fewer dyskinesias are reported, with some differences in the profile of non-motor symptoms and comorbidities. Gaps in awareness of the disease and inequitable access to treatments pose challenges. Further improvements in infrastructure, clinical governance, and services, and concerted collaborative efforts in training and research, including greater representation of the Western Pacific Region in clinical trials, will improve care of patients with Parkinson's disease in this region and beyond.

Matched MeSH terms: Asia/epidemiology

Is flooding considered a threat in the degraded tropical peatlands?

Lupascu M, Varkkey H, Tortajada C

Sci Total Environ, 2020 Jun 25;723:137988.

PMID: 32392686 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137988

Tropical peatland degradation due to oil palm plantation development has reduced peat's ability to naturally regulate floods. In turn, more severe and frequent flooding on peatlands could seriously impair plantation productivity. Understanding the roles of peatland ecosystems in regulating floods has become essential given the continued pressure on land resources, especially in Southeast Asia. However, the limited knowledge on this topic has resulted in the oversimplifications of the relationships between floods, commercial plantations and peatland sustainability, creating major disagreement among policymakers at different levels in governments, companies, NGOs and society. Hence, this study identifies whether flood policies are integrated within peatland management through a qualitative policy analysis of publicly available papers, government reports, and other official documents that discuss flooding, and/or more in general, hydrology in peatlands. Document analysis was then triangulated with data obtained from several semi-structured discussions. The analysis indicates that the industry on peatlands and the peatland's environmental sustainability could be threatened by increased flooding. We show that, in spite of this, flood policies in SE Asian countries like Malaysia and Indonesia have not been well-integrated into peatland management. We also discuss how the countries could move forward to overcome this problem.

Matched MeSH terms: Asia; Asia, Southeastern

Red Alert: Climate Change and Public Health in the Asia Pacific Region

Binns C, Low WY, Wai Hoe VC

Asia Pac J Public Health, 2021 11;33(8):810-811.

PMID: 34763537 DOI: 10.1177/10105395211051322

Matched MeSH terms: Asia/epidemiology

Developing a New Region-Specific Preference-Based Measure in East and Southeast Asia

Shiroiwa T, Murata T, Ahn J, Li X, Nakamura R, Teerawattananon Y, et al.

Value Health Reg Issues, 2022 Nov;32:62-69.

PMID: 36099801 DOI: 10.1016/j.vhri.2022.07.002

OBJECTIVES: Almost all preference-based measures (PBMs) have been developed in Western countries, with none having been formulated in Asian countries. In this study, we construct a new generic PBM based on concept elicitation using interview surveys in East and Southeast Asian countries and qualitative analysis.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 225 adults recruited from 9 East and Southeast Asian countries or regions (Indonesia, Japan, Korea, mainland China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand). Trained interviewers conducted semistructured interviews with 25 participants from the general population of each country/region. Qualitative data were analyzed using a content analysis approach. The selection of items was determined based on interview surveys and team member discussions. The description of items was considered based on a detailed qualitative analysis of the interview survey.

RESULTS: A new region-specific PBM-the Asia PBM 7 dimensions instrument-was designed. It reflects East and Southeast Asian values and comprises 7 items: pain, mental health, energy, mobility, work/school, interpersonal interactions, and burden to others.

CONCLUSIONS: The new region-specific instrument is one of the first PBMs developed in the context of non-Western countries. The Asia PBM 7 dimensions contains 7 items that address the core concepts of health-related quality of life that are deemed important based on East and Southeast Asian health concepts.

Matched MeSH terms: Asia, Southeastern/epidemiology

The influence of residential greenness on mortality in the Asia-Pacific region: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Kua KP, Lee S

Perspect Public Health, 2021 Nov;141(6):342-353.

PMID: 34120524 DOI: 10.1177/17579139211011496

AIMS: To critically appraise the evidence of the impact of exposure to salutogenic green environment on mortality, which is an important endpoint in epidemiological and clinical studies.

METHODS: We searched for studies published and indexed in three databases (PubMed, AMED, and CINAHL Plus) from inception until 31 March 2020, complemented with a search of cited literature for articles describing the effects of greenness on mortality in Asia-Pacific region. Eligible articles were screened and data were extracted independently by two reviewers. A random-effects model was utilised to obtain pool hazard ratio (HR) and risk ratio of all-cause mortality outcome.

RESULTS: The search identified 3239 studies, of which 20 studies reporting 133,363 participants from longitudinal cohort studies and 202 million people from population-based prevalence studies were included in the review. The majority of the studies (60%) were conducted in high-income countries in Asia-Pacific. All participants of the longitudinal cohort studies were aged 60 years or older, whereas the prevalence studies involved people of all age groups. A significant protective association of green environment exposure with all-cause mortality was reported in 18 studies. Pooled results from five studies showed increased level of greenness exposure was associated with a significant decrease in all-cause mortality (pooled HR = 0.97; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.93 to 1.02; p

Matched MeSH terms: Asia/epidemiology

Fulltext Pan-Asian adapted ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for the diagnosis treatment and follow-up of patients with localised colon cancer

Yoshino T, Argilés G, Oki E, Martinelli E, Taniguchi H, Arnold D, et al.

Ann Oncol, 2021 12;32(12):1496-1510.

PMID: 34411693 DOI: 10.1016/j.annonc.2021.08.1752

The most recent version of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Clinical Practice Guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of localised colon cancer was published in 2020. It was decided by both the ESMO and the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology (JSMO) to convene a special virtual guidelines meeting in March 2021 to adapt the ESMO 2020 guidelines to take into account the ethnic differences associated with the treatment of localised colon cancer in Asian patients. These guidelines represent the consensus opinions reached by experts in the treatment of patients with localised colon cancer representing the oncological societies of Japan (JSMO), China (CSCO), India (ISMPO), Korea (KSMO), Malaysia (MOS), Singapore (SSO) and Taiwan (TOS). The voting was based on scientific evidence and was independent of the current treatment practices and drug availability and reimbursement situations in the different Asian countries.

Matched MeSH terms: Asia/epidemiology

Statement of the Asian Hypertension Society Network: the Okinawa Declaration on the unity of hypertension societies in Asian countries and regions to overcome hypertension and hypertension-related diseases

Ohya Y, Kario K, Itoh H, Nishiyama A, Ishimitsu T, Ichihara A, et al.

Hypertens Res, 2022 01;45(1):1-2.

PMID: 34750504 DOI: 10.1038/s41440-021-00781-4

Matched MeSH terms: Asia/epidemiology; Asian Continental Ancestry Group

Displaying publications 121 - 140 of 2413 in total