Objective: The number of people surviving until old age has been increasing worldwide. Reductions in both fertility and mortality rates, better living standards, nutrition and health care are claimed to be the key factors that increase the proportion of aged people within the population. Nevertheless, growing numbers of older adults also increases the susceptibility to diseases that commonly afflict the elderly, such as dementia. In this article, we discuss on the current issues of dementia in Malaysia and its challenge in providing a
better management and services for this population. Methods and Results:Review of literature by searching the databases CINAHL, SCOPUS, MEDLINE and PsychINFO from June 2010 to November 2010 was done on the issues involving dementia patients in Malaysia such as ageing trend, awareness and availability of services. Conclusion: Despite a limited number of studies on dementia in Malaysia, literature revealed the importance of
acknowledging the issues and improving the services for the patients. Efforts should be made by the government and private sectors to promote healthy ageing in Malaysia.
Tooth wear is the non-carious loss of tooth tissue due to attrition, erosion and/or abrasion. The amount of wear that accelerates physiological tooth wear is referred as pathological tooth wear. This study aims to determine the prevalence and mean scores according to mouth quadrant of raw tooth wear (RTW) and pathological tooth wear (PTW) and investigate sex association with PTW among 16-year-old secondary school children in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. This cross-sectional study involves 688 participants randomly selected from eight government secondary schools. The Smith and Knight Tooth Wear Index (TWI) was used. Data were analyzed using a simplified Microsoft Excel program developed based on the index to quantify PTW. Bar graphs were plotted to highlight the mean scores according to mouth quadrant. About 44% of participants were male and 56% were female. The prevalence of RTW and PTW among subjects was 100% and 20.1% respectively. It was found that 32.8% of tooth surfaces were affected with RTW and 0.7% of study subjects already had exposed dentine. The most affected quadrant for RTW and PTW was the upper and lower incisal quadrant respectively. Males had 92% more odds of developing tooth wear compared to females. In conclusion, all subjects have some degree of wear. About one-fifth of the study subjects were affected by PTW. The patterns of wear were similar to those encountered in the Western societies. There was statistically significant association between sex and PTW.
Engineering control is a method of controlling the risk of exposure to contaminants. Health effects to industrial workers are more severe whilst high exposure and time exposed to contaminants at workplace. Installation of industrial ventilation or local exhaust ventilation (LEV) system is the proposed method to reduce the risk. This paper discusses the past, present and future relating to LEV system in Malaysia. Current issues related to monitoring reported by Hygiene Technician in compliance with Occupational Safety and Health (Use of Standard Chemical Hazardous to Health Regulation 2000) carried out in several states in Malaysia as a sample. The nanotechnology is a new area at present and future. The involvement of government, employers and employees need to be justified due to the attention to prevent and control of any exposure. It is suggested that using the Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulation, a new design of LEV system can be upgraded and predicted.
Introduction : Mersing, a district in north-east Johore was also affected by the recent worst flood in 100 years that striked Johore. Orang Asli settlements were among the worst affected by the flood in Mersing due to their location along the river. For Kg. Peta, not only flooded, the communications as well as the access roads were also tarnished. This settlement situated very deep interior about 100 km from Mersing town and next to Endau- Rompin National Park. Besides the distance, the geography and the communication issues make the flood operation even more difficult. Even then, the welfare of this minority group was never been neglected. Our Medical and Health Teams made a move in but unfortunately were also been trapped in between the flood waves.
Methodology : It was a qualitative finding. The data for this report were collected from various means. Some data were collected through informal interview among the staffs that being trapped, head villager and the dwellers, local head departments of government and non-government organizations. Others were from the relevant photographs, formal flood returns as well as through the observation.
Finding : The existence of very good involvement, cooperation and coordination from various agencies was the main factor that ensures all the villagers of Kg. Peta received our services despite of many difficulties or challenges. During this disaster, no outbreak of infectious disease or death from the settlement was reported. The welfare and the needs of all who affected and those involved in the flood operation were taken care off. Therefore, we believed that without good support and cooperation from others, we will not be able to deliver our services and their welfare especially when health was concerned will be deprived. The objectives of this write up were to share our experience in managing flood in very remote area and to show the importance of good integration between agencies in disaster management.
Each organization has a particular culture, due to personal interactions, with certain values shared by its members. Corporate culture is defined as ‘the set of shared, taken-for-granted implicit assumptions that a group holds and that determines how it perceives, thinks about, and reacts to its various environments’. Positive corporate culture is linked to increased staff alignment, advanced level of employee commitment, increased employee productivity, enhanced organizational effectiveness and increased profitability. Researchers claimed that most studies suggesting the associations between culture and performance are methodologically weak. Cultural transformation has been a big part of NHS reforms and health system redesign in United States to deliver improvements in quality and performance. Environment, market competition, technology advancement, information age and government policies will influence the cultural change within the organization. Undesirable culture might emerge if the organization does not act appropriately to manage its corporate culture. There are six critical success factors for the implementation of corporate culture changes: committed and effective leadership, clear definition of the desired goals, rigorous implementation of a change management model, effective mitigation of change resistance, active governance structure and a design model, and effective communication. Among the issues in implementing corporate culture within healthcare organizations are middle managers dilemma, cultural diversity and subcultures within the organization, size of healthcare organization and critical mass.
A cross»sectional study using self administered questionnaires on sociodemographic and service factors influencing locum practice was undertaken among all Government medical officers in Negeri Sembilan and Malacca for 8 months from 2 7 April 1999 to 9. l January ZOOO. Universally chosen samples were made of 335 Government medical officers from both the 'Public Health Division' and ”Hospital Division' and from 154 who responded, only 147 samples were chosen and analysed in the study. Results revealed that locum were still being practised by 51 .9% of male Government medical officers, 41 .0% of Government medical ofhcers aged less than 30 years, 43.4% of Government medical officers who had served less than 5 years and 55.6% of Government medical officers who had earned nett income less than RM 1 000. Meanwhile, 80.9% of Government medical officers who had earned gross income more than RM 5 OOO did not practice locum during the study. Logistic Regression analysis then revealed that locum practice among Government medical ofhcers can positively be influenced by gender (male) , Malay ethnic, service duration of less than 5 years, practice in the 'Public Health Divisionl and nett income of less than RM 1 OOO (p
A twin registry is a registry of twin pairs (monozygotic = MZ and Dizygotic = DZ) who are willing to consider participating in health-related research. Twins are able to help researchers study the impact of genetic and environmental factors on health and the treatment and prevention of disease in a special way. Throughout the world, twin registries have been established by the governments via the National Health and Medical Research in order to put researchers in touch with twins who might be willing to take part in particular projects. In Australia, for example, more than 30,000 pairs of twins have joined the registry, making it the largest volunteer registry of its kind in the world. However, in some countries such as Denmark, the first twin registry was born in a medical faculty and it was then expanded to the National Twin Registry of Denmark. (Copied from article).
Background : Risk management strategy at the workplace needs two way interactions between employee and employer. Therefore, study on risk perception among workers based on scientific analysis is needed to gain knowledge and understanding on how workers perceived risk at the workplace in order to design risk management strategies more effectively.
Methodology : A cross sectional study was carried out among 628 respondents from 36 medical laboratories in the public and private sector in Klang Valley. Using a self administered questionnaire, respondents were required to perceive risk on 30 hazards which have been identified in the medical laboratory. Each hazard was encoded by using Likert scale 1= not risky, 2= risky but low, 3= moderate risk, 4= high risk and 5= very high risk.
Result : Overall, the study showed that working in the medical laboratory was perceived to of moderate risk. When comparing among ethic groups, the Malays had the highest perception of risk (3.07±0.88) as compared with Indians (3.03±0.88) and the Chinese (2.78±0.90). Employee with higher education and position level perceived low level of risk compared to those with lower education and position level. For those working in different types of laboratories, there are significant difference on risk perception, (p=0.001). Employees who work in government sector perceived higher (3.12±0.93) risk compared to workers in private sector (2.85±0.88). In terms of OSH based knowledge, those with higher level of education and position have a high score knowledge on OSH compared to those have lower education and position level.
Conclusion : This study showed that risk perception among workers in medical laboratory is influenced by socio-demography factor such race, education level, job position and the laboratory where the respondents are working.
Introduction : Quality is an important aspect in health care delivery not only because it is one of the most important factors in individual and community health, but it also influences lives in improving lifespan, health status and also reduction in disease and the burden of diseases.
Methodology : This is a systematic review on various papers, studies and articles based on studies and researches done by a few scholars, experts and organizations involved in quality, quality assessment and monitoring.
Results : Quality in health care delivery involves six main aspects including access to services, suitability to the needs, effectiveness, equity, social acceptance and efficiency. Quality is taken from the perspective of the consumers and the providers. Some of the issues surrounding quality assessment are identifying and balancing between the difference perspective among the stakeholders, producing accountable framework of assessment and also finding suitable criteria for outcome assessment. Health care services in Malaysia are provided both by the government and the private sector with each sector has its own advantages, disadvantages and challenges.
Conclusion : The challenges in improving and maintaining quality include balancing advances in science and technology with the available brainpower and human resources. Therefore all agencies should work together in order to provide the best health care delivery and to keep improving the quality in health care services.
Shrimp aquaculture is playing a vital role in Malaysian agriculture, especially its increasing
contribution to economic growth. White shrimp aquaculture is not only the key player in brackish
water shrimp aquaculture but also the largest contributor to Malaysian shrimp aquaculture. This
study estimates technical efficiency and investigates factors affecting technical inefficiency of
Malaysian white shrimp aquaculture. Stochastic frontier analysis with trans-log production
model is applied in this study. Malaysian white shrimp aquaculture farmers have achieved
an estimated average technical efficiency of 81.2 percent. Land ownership, shrimp seed size
and seminar are the factors having significant impacts on technical inefficiency and thereby
playing important roles in improving technical efficiency of this industry. This study suggests
that seminar should be conducted by shrimp farming extension agents to enhance knowledge
of shrimp farmers. Malaysian government should allocate lands and, provide technical and
financial supports to develop this industry. Subsidy on shrimp seed should be also given to
encourage shrimp farmers to embrace and adopt quality shrimp seed for their farms.
The increasing amount of food waste in Malaysia in recent years has brought many environmental
issues in the country where it affects the nation’s solid waste management framework. At the
moment, the government is limited to other alternatives of food waste disposal besides the
conventional landfill and incineration methods. This paper provides information on the current
status of food waste handling, management, regulations, and policies in Malaysia. It helps
to draw the problem and challenge to a clearer view in efforts of achieving sustainable and
integrative food waste handling in the country.
Ergonomics is generally to design for human use and optimizing the working and living conditions. The comfort, safety and ease of use of systems, products and machines require the principles of ergonomics to be incorporated into the design. Anthropometry is a part of ergonomics which deals with the measurement of body dimensions, its capability and limitations of the human ability. Studies have indicated that body dimensions differ for various populations, depending on ethnic group, sex and age. The measurement of physical characteristics and abilities of people provides information that is essential for the appropriate design of occupational and non- occupational environments, as well as for the design of consumer products, clothing, tools and equipment. It has been considered as the very basic core of ergonomics in an attempt to resolve the dilemma of 'fitting people to machines'. It has also been regarded as a branch of anthropology which deals with physical characteristics of the man in time and space, particularly with individual variation, ontogenesis and generic development. Knowledge about man from the point of view of physical anthropometry is very useful for the purpose of ergonomics and design. Thus it is important that an anthropometric database for each nation is developed to ensure design of products and systems are compatible with the user population. In Malaysia, many researchers have conducted anthropometric studies on various groups of people, focused on a small sample size and used for specific designs. Unfortunately, the measurements are not representatives of the population. The work has been individually based, confined to certain group of researchers in various universities and there is no concerted effort towards developing a national anthropometric database.This paper discusses some of the anthropometry work conducted in Malaysia, the problems and challenges in developing the national database, the importance of anthropometry and the roles that the government has to play in developing the database.
Background: Apart from reducing occupational exposure to cytotoxic hazards, the PhaSeal® closed-system transfer device (CSTD) can extend the beyond-use dates (BUDs) of unfinished vials of antineoplastic drugs for up to 168 hours (seven days). In this study, the total material cost incurred by its use in a Malaysian government-funded hospital was calculated. Methods: A list of vial stability following initial needle punctures of 29 commonly-used antineoplastic drugs was compiled. The amount of the materials used, including drugs, infusion bottles, the PhaSeal® CSTD and other consumables, was recorded on a daily basis for three months in 2015. The total cost was calculated based on the actual acquisition costs, and was compared with that of a hypothetical scenario, whereby conventional syringe-needle sets were used for the same amounts of preparations. Results: The use of the PhaSeal® CSTD incurred a cost of MYR 383,634.52 (USD 92,072.28) in three months, representing an average of MYR 170.5 (USD 40.92) per preparation or an estimated annual cost of MYR 1,534,538.08 (USD 368,289.14). Compared with conventional syringe-needle approach, it is estimated to lead to an additional spending of MYR 148,627.68 (USD 35,670.64) yearly. Conclusion: Although there was a reduction of drug wastage achieved by extending BUDs of unfinished vials using the PhaSeal® CSTD, cost saving was not observed, likely attributable to the wide use of lower-priced generic drugs in Malaysia. Future studies should further evaluate the possibility of cost saving, especially in health settings where branded and high-cost antineoplastic drugs are more commonly used.
Malaysia is currently poised to introduce its Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy and Act to bolster the nation's efforts at economic and social transformation. In championing this initiative, the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, while continuing to advise the Government on STI issues of the day, has made major strides in taking stock of the country's STI strengths in the various sectors of the economy as well as weaknesses that need to be addressed in terms of human capital development. In this article, the author examines the level of research expertise presently in the country in the field of chemistry, and elaborates on the four key areas of energy, catalysis and chemical synthesis, materials science and biological chemistry which will be researched globally in the next few decades that we would also need to be engaged upon to remain competitive. Intended for a wider audience than chemists alone, the descriptive sections in the article by and large belie an interdisciplinary flavour. The article also advocates the need for a more thorough road mapping exercise of the STI efforts in chemistry across the spectrum of academia and industry and makes some recommendations towards forging strong collaborations in research between the universities, public research institutes and the industry which are seen as vital in providing cross-cutting chemical solutions throughout the value chains and to the success of technologies identified as critical to the nation.
Malaysia has good environmental laws to protect the outdoor environment and public health. However there are no laws governing indoor air quality (IAQ) and the knowledge among the public about its importance is also lacking. Environmental professionals think it is not a priority and this influences the policy decisions in the country. Therefore there is a need to create awareness by way of research, education and other promotional activities. What is much needed at this time is the establishment of standards for the conduct of risk assessment studies. To establish standards we need reliable data which can be used to develop appropriate guidelines for the purpose of mitigation and adaptation programmes. IAQ can have significant influence on health resulting in drop in productivity and economy of a country. It has been estimated that in the US, building related illnesses (BRI) symptoms have a relationship with decrease (3 to 5%) in work performance in an affected population resulting in an annual loss of US$60 billion in revenue. However, based on efficient management programmes they have also projected that the potential annual savings can be in the region of US$10 to 30 billion. This establishes that fact that good management programmes based on efficient guidelines is of economic value to a country and wellbeing of the population. The IMU has embarked on a research programme to collect the much-needed data for the framing of a good IAQ guideline for Malaysia.
Industrial statistics is an important part of the management system in any industry that strives to continuously improve quality and increase productivity and efficiency. That system covers supply chain management, production design and prototyping, production process and marketing. Industrial statisticians, industrial engineers and industrial leaders should work together hand in hand, in the same language, to ensure that the process and products are as expected. The system itself is never complete. Thus, the usefulness, manageability and reliability of all statistical models used in the system are to be considered as first priority, but those skills are not sufficient. Industrial statisticians should also, of course, be able to come and go between the two poles: statistics and industry. This requirement needs a good understanding about the culture of these poles and how to conduct a mutual symbiosis. One of the principal bridges between these cultures is statistical process control (SPC). This paper is to show that modern industry cannot escape from SPC, especially in a multivariate setting. This setting, which characterizes modern industry, consists of two philosophical problems: how to order data and how to measure process variability. Our recent research results sponsored by the Government of Malaysia will be presented to illustrate the challenging statistical problems in modern industry.
In December 2009, at the UN Climate Change Conference COP 15 in Copenhagen, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, the Rt. Hon. Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, had announced that “Malaysia is adopting an indicator of a voluntary reduction of up to 40% in terms of emissions intensity of GDP by the year 2020 compared to 2005 levels. This indicator is conditional on receiving the transfer of technology and finance of adequate and effective levels from Annex 1 partners, that correspond to what is required in order to achieve this indicator”. Malaysia also needs to decouple its GDP from its current relatively high carbon-based energy demand. In trying to meet both these targets, we need to intensify our research efforts in energy-based areas. As government funding in R&D is limited as the aim is for research to be private-sector driven, and with the grim global economic scenario today, it is most unlikely that Malaysia will get any assistance financially or technologically from Annex 1 nations. It is therefore proposed that Malaysia considers implementing a dedicated carbon cess on petroleum products to fund R&D in the country. (Copied from article).
Introduction: School vision screening program is a scheduled program under the Ministry of Health, Malaysia for 7, 12 and 15 years-old children in the government schools. The aim of this study was to review the school vision screening program from the perspective of the personnel involved as the screener. Methods: The evaluation of the performance of the screener was based upon the accurate referrals' outcome from the school health database of Betong Division in Sarawak, Malaysia in the year of 2008. Results: The total accuracy of the referrals was 50.7%. Lower accuracy of the referrals was found significantly associated with Grade 1 [χ2 (2.N=304) = 28.810, p
Substance misuse, in particular heroin addiction contributes to health and social problems. Although effective medical treatment was available, earlier efforts confined the treatment of heroin addicts to in-house rehabilitation which required them to be estranged from the community and their families for 2 years. The in-house rehabilitative programme, implemented for at least three decades has produced low abstinence rates. On the other hand, being ‘away’ meant that many heroin addicts faced employment problems and family relationship difficulties upon completing the in-house rehabilitation. However, recently, the concerted efforts by various government and non-government organisations, and the acknowledgement that heroin addiction is a medical illness has resulted in a revamp to approaching treatment of heroin addiction. At present, methadone substitution programmes have been offered as part of treatment programme for heroin addicts in Malaysia. This new programme has been shown to be effective in treating heroin addiction and would need support and cooperation from all groups involved.
Compliance to delivery of orthodontic appliances within specified times and factors which influenced compliance by dental technicians in Selangor was evaluated. This is a prospective 8-month study of 18 trainee/ trained technicians from 4 main government dental laboratories in Kajang, Klang, Tanjong Karang and Shah Alam. Delivery times specified by orthodontists were 1 day for plastic retainer, 3 days acrylic retainer, 5 days active plates (URA), 10 days functional appliances (FA), 10 days transpalatal arch (TPA) and 10 days for quadhelix. Punctual delivery was recorded as ‘compliant’. Compliance was compared between appliances, clinics, technicians, orthodontists and seniority of technicians. The sample comprised appliances from 365 patients; 38 (10.4%) Tanjong.Karang, 114 (31.2%) Kajang, 191 (52.3%) Klang and 22 (6.0%) Shah Alam. The majority of appliances were retainers (66.3%), followed by URA (13.4%), functionals (9.3%), TPA (9.0%) and quadhelix (1.9%). Mean compliance for all appliances in Selangor was 55%. Plastic retainers had highest compliance (77.8%), followed by acrylic retainers (59.9%), quadhelix (57.1%), FA (47.1%), TPA (45.5%) and URA (24.5%). Senior technicians (>3 years in service) were more compliant than juniors (