Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 263 in total

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  1. Aminuddin F, Bahari MS, Zainuddin NA, Mohd Hanafiah AN, Mohd Hassan NZA
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2023 Feb 01;24(2):489-496.
    PMID: 36853297 DOI: 10.31557/APJCP.2023.24.2.489
    BACKGROUND: Healthcare in Malaysia is largely publicly funded, however, cancer could still result in out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses, which may burden the affected patients. This is especially relevant to those in the lower-income group. This pilot study was conducted to estimate the direct and indirect costs of cancer and evaluate the feasibility of obtaining these costs information from the lower-income cancer patients undergoing treatment.

    METHODS: A cross-sectional study of patients with cancer was conducted in Hospital Kuala Lumpur between September and October 2020. Self-reported data from the patients were collected using face-to-face interviews. Detailed information about cancer-related OOP expenses including direct medical, direct non-medical, and productivity loss in addition to financial coping strategies were collected. Costs data were estimated and reported as average annual total costs per patient.

    RESULTS: The mean total cost of cancer was estimated at MYR 7955.39 (US$ 1893.46) per patient per year. The direct non-medical cost was the largest contributor to the annual cost, accounting for 46.1% of the total cost. This was followed by indirect costs and direct medical costs at 36.0% and 17.9% of the total annual costs, respectively. Supplemental food and transportation costs were the major contributors to the total non-medical costs. The most frequently used financial coping strategies were savings and financial support received from relatives and friends.

    CONCLUSION: This study showed that estimation of the total cost of cancer from the patient's perspective is feasible. Considering the significant impact of direct non-medical and indirect costs on the total costs, it is vital to conduct further exploration of its cost drivers and variations using a larger sample size.

    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  2. Abdul Rahman M, Sani NS, Hamdan R, Ali Othman Z, Abu Bakar A
    PLoS One, 2021;16(8):e0255312.
    PMID: 34339480 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255312
    The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is an income-based poverty index which measures multiple deprivations alongside other relevant factors to determine and classify poverty. The implementation of a reliable MPI is one of the significant efforts by the Malaysian government to improve measures in alleviating poverty, in line with the recent policy for Bottom 40 Percent (B40) group. However, using this measurement, only 0.86% of Malaysians are regarded as multidimensionally poor, and this measurement was claimed to be irrelevant for Malaysia as a country that has rapid economic development. Therefore, this study proposes a B40 clustering-based K-Means with cosine similarity architecture to identify the right indicators and dimensions that will provide data driven MPI measurement. In order to evaluate the approach, this study conducted extensive experiments on the Malaysian Census dataset. A series of data preprocessing steps were implemented, including data integration, attribute generation, data filtering, data cleaning, data transformation and attribute selection. The clustering model produced eight clusters of B40 group. The study included a comprehensive clustering analysis to meaningfully understand each of the clusters. The analysis discovered seven indicators of multidimensional poverty from three dimensions encompassing education, living standard and employment. Out of the seven indicators, this study proposed six indicators to be added to the current MPI to establish a more meaningful scenario of the current poverty trend in Malaysia. The outcomes from this study may help the government in properly identifying the B40 group who suffers from financial burden, which could have been currently misclassified.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  3. Abu Bakar N, Sahimin N, Lim YAL, Ibrahim K, Mohd Zain SN
    Trop Biomed, 2023 Mar 01;40(1):65-75.
    PMID: 37356005 DOI: 10.47665/tb.40.1.013
    Poverty, as proven by several studies, is a driving force behind poor health and hygiene practices. This review attempts to outline common communicable and non-communicable diseases that disproportionately affect Malaysia's 2.91 million low-income households. The current study also looks into the government's housing and healthcare programmes for this demographic to improve their health and well-being. The initial examination yielded incredibly little research on this marginalised community, with event reporting typically generalised to the Malaysian community as a whole rather than analysing disease incidences based on household income, which would better reflect povertydriven diseases. As a result, there is an acute need for more accurate information on the epidemiology of diseases among the poor in order to address this public health issue and provide conclusions that can drive policy designs.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  4. Datuk TS, Ismail AM, Singh G
    Med J Malaysia, 1973 Sep;28(1):3-7.
    PMID: 4273782
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  5. Althabhawi NM, Kashef Al-Ghetaa AA
    Med Humanit, 2023 Mar;49(1):128-133.
    PMID: 35523578 DOI: 10.1136/medhum-2022-012386
    Since the approval of COVID-19 vaccines, international efforts have intensified on vaccination schemes perceived as the only light at the end of the tunnel. Governments are working tirelessly to scale up the number of vaccinated people, just as vaccine manufacturers are stretching their facilities to meet the increasing demand for doses. The international community is trying to help the poorest countries in the world by improving vaccine supplies and removing obstacles. In this regard, India and South Africa have applied to World Trade Organisation to waive vaccine-related intellectual property rights. The proposal has sparked off academic debates as to its merit. This article addresses the waiver controversy. Following a critical review of both dimensions of the controversy, the article concentrates on the extent to which the waiver application contradicts the theoretical justification of the patent system. It concludes that the concerns raised over the conflict between the waiver proposal and the patent right philosophy are indefensible.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  6. Okafor L, Khalid U
    PLoS One, 2023;18(8):e0287384.
    PMID: 37643183 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287384
    The COVID-19 outbreak has had a catastrophic effect on the tourism sector and poverty alleviation efforts. This is especially the case, given the crucial role the tourism sector plays in poverty alleviation and the generation of foreign exchange earnings. This study investigates the moderating influence of extreme poverty on the underlying link between the size of the tourism industry and COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Packages (ESPs) while accounting for the influence of external debt. The results show that tourism-dependent economies with a larger share of individuals living in extreme poverty introduced larger ESPs to cushion the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, economies with larger external debt have less fiscal and monetary leeway to alleviate the negative effects of the COVID-19 outbreak.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  7. Malhotra A, Elnakib S
    J Adolesc Health, 2021 05;68(5):847-862.
    PMID: 33446401 DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.11.017
    PURPOSE: This review assesses evaluations published from 2000 to 2019 to shed light on what approaches work, especially at scale and sustainably, to prevent child marriage in low- and middle-income countries.

    METHODS: We conducted a search of electronic databases and gray literature and evaluated the methodological quality and risk of bias of included studies.

    RESULTS: A total of 30 studies met the inclusion criteria. Interventions that support girls' schooling through cash or in-kind transfers show the clearest pattern of success in preventing child marriage, with 8 of 10 medium-high quality studies showing positive results. Although limited in number, five studies on favorable job markets and targeted life skills and livelihoods training show consistent positive results. Comparatively, asset or cash transfers conditional on delaying marriage show success only among two of four evaluations, and the three studies on unconditional cash transfers for poverty mitigation show no effect. Findings also show a low success rate for multicomponent interventions with positive results in only one of eight medium-high quality studies. Further, single component interventions were much more likely to be at scale and sustainable than multicomponent interventions.

    CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that enhancement of girls' own human capital and opportunities is the most compelling pathway to delaying marriage. In contrast, low rates of success, scale-up, and sustainability of multicomponent programs requires reconsideration of this approach.

    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  8. Lilford RJ, Oyebode O, Satterthwaite D, Melendez-Torres GJ, Chen YF, Mberu B, et al.
    Lancet, 2017 02 04;389(10068):559-570.
    PMID: 27760702 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31848-7
    In the first paper in this Series we assessed theoretical and empirical evidence and concluded that the health of people living in slums is a function not only of poverty but of intimately shared physical and social environments. In this paper we extend the theory of so-called neighbourhood effects. Slums offer high returns on investment because beneficial effects are shared across many people in densely populated neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood effects also help explain how and why the benefits of interventions vary between slum and non-slum spaces and between slums. We build on this spatial concept of slums to argue that, in all low-income and-middle-income countries, census tracts should henceforth be designated slum or non-slum both to inform local policy and as the basis for research surveys that build on censuses. We argue that slum health should be promoted as a topic of enquiry alongside poverty and health.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty Areas*
  9. Ezeh A, Oyebode O, Satterthwaite D, Chen YF, Ndugwa R, Sartori J, et al.
    Lancet, 2017 02 04;389(10068):547-558.
    PMID: 27760703 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31650-6
    Massive slums have become major features of cities in many low-income and middle-income countries. Here, in the first in a Series of two papers, we discuss why slums are unhealthy places with especially high risks of infection and injury. We show that children are especially vulnerable, and that the combination of malnutrition and recurrent diarrhoea leads to stunted growth and longer-term effects on cognitive development. We find that the scientific literature on slum health is underdeveloped in comparison to urban health, and poverty and health. This shortcoming is important because health is affected by factors arising from the shared physical and social environment, which have effects beyond those of poverty alone. In the second paper we will consider what can be done to improve health and make recommendations for the development of slum health as a field of study.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty Areas*
  10. Touraine M, Gröhe H, Coffie RG, Sathasivam S, Juan M, Louardi el H, et al.
    Lancet, 2014 Sep 27;384(9949):1161-2.
    PMID: 25242037 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61419-7
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty/prevention & control; Poverty/trends
  11. Murad MW, Siwar C
    Waste Manag Res, 2007 Feb;25(1):3-13.
    PMID: 17346002
    This study assesses waste management and recycling practices of the urban poor households residing as squatters and in low-cost flats of Kuala Lumpur city, Malaysia. To attain the objective, the study employed some statistical techniques such as t-tests of equality of means, one-way analysis of variance, chi-squared 'likelihood ratio' tests, and simple descriptive statistics. The statistical techniques were used to determine and analyse the factors that significantly influence the environmental behaviour of the urban poor concerning solid waste management, particularly their recycling practices. The findings of the study show that the urban poor and low-income communities have been proved to behave in ways that are consistent with and conducive to environmentally friendly solid waste management. This study provides evidence that the urban poor and low-income communities are the main recyclers, re-users, and source-reducers of their household solid waste. The study, however, suggests that policies should be formulated to focus on promoting knowledge, education, and the skills of the urban poor and, in addition, to empower them as a means of improving their quality of life.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty/psychology*
  12. Leigh B, Ebrahim GJ, Lovell H, Yusof K
    J Trop Pediatr, 1983 10;29(5):265-7.
    PMID: 6644850 DOI: 10.1093/tropej/29.5.265
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  13. BIN AHMADA
    Med J Malaysia, 1964 Jun;18:235-8.
    PMID: 14199441
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  14. Kocher E, Wood D, Lim SC, Jackson-Morris A, Kataria I, Ngongo C, et al.
    Health Promot Int, 2022 Dec 01;37(6).
    PMID: 36367424 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daac156
    Non-communicable diseases and associated risk factors, such as obesity, are prevalent and increasing in Malaysia. To address this burden and the heightened vulnerability of low-income communities to these risk factors, the Better Health Programme Malaysia conducted a partial-profile discrete choice experiment (DCE) to inform the design of a community-based obesity-prevention programme. The DCE survey was conducted with community members (n = 1453) from three publicly supported low-cost, high-rise flat complexes in urban Kuala Lumpur. In the survey, community members were asked to choose between different sets of potential evidence-based interventions for obesity prevention. Their responses to these choice tasks were analysed to quantify preferences for these different health interventions using a random utility maximization model. Based on these results, we determined participants' relative prioritization of the different options. The most preferred interventions were those that reduced the price of fruit and vegetables; altered cooking practices at restaurants and food vendors to reduce salt, sugar and oil; and offered reward incentives for completing online educational activities. Community members did not prioritize several evidence-based interventions, including changes to product placement or product labelling, suggesting that these effective approaches may be less familiar or simply not preferred by respondents. The DCE enabled the clear articulation of these community priorities for evidence-based interventions that focus on the supply and promotion of affordable healthy foods within the local food environment, as well as community demand for healthier food options.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  15. Wu B, Liu S, Wang J, Tahir S, Patwary AK
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2021 Aug;28(30):40858-40870.
    PMID: 33772472 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-13605-2
    This work aims to assess multidimensional energy poverty and energy efficiency for environmental policy measures using data envelopment analysis (DEA), a DEA-Like mathematical composite indicator applied on a dataset based on multiple sets of variables from South Asian economies. The multidimensional energy poverty index (MEPI) is computed to analyze the combining effects and energy poverty in these countries. Simultaneously, South Asia's metropolitan areas' population rose by 130 million between 2001 and 2011 and is projected to expand by approximately 250 million by 2030. The findings reveal that endogenous increasing population shocks account for about 72% of energy use. In contrast, the long-term effects of remittance revenue, economic growth, and urbanization on energy use are approximately 20%, 8.25%, and 0.03%, respectively. This work advocates more coordinated and innovative policies to eliminate energy poverty. It can act as a base for policymakers and government officials to make efficient policies and enforce them properly in the regional power sector. Policies should be designed around a smarter use of biomass for cooking, alternate sources for domestic energy production, increased programs for biomass-based cookstoves, and periodic regional-level energy database development.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  16. Ehsanullah S, Tran QH, Sadiq M, Bashir S, Mohsin M, Iram R
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2021 Oct;28(39):55041-55052.
    PMID: 34125387 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-14415-2
    The aim of the study is to estimate the nexus between energy insecurity and energy poverty with the role of climate change and other environmental concerns. We used DEA like WP methods and properties of MCDA, a most common form of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to estimate the nexus between constructs. This paper presents a measurement and analysis of G7 countries' energy, economic, social, and environmental performance associated with energy poverty indexes. The study used the multiple, comprehensive, and relevant set of indicators, including energy economics and environmental consideration of energy poverty. The net energy consumption of al G7 economies is equal to 34 percent of the entire world along with the net estimate GDP score of around 50 percent. Using DEA modelling and estimation technique, our research presented valuable insights for readers, theorists and policy makers on energy, environment, energy poverty and climate change mitigation. For this reasons, all these indicators combined in a mathematical composite indicator to measure energy, economic, social, and environmental performance index (EPI). Results show that Canada has the highest EPII score, which shows that Canada's capacity to deal with energy self-sufficiency, economic development, and environmental performance is greater than the other G7 countries. France and Italy rank second and third. Japan comes next with 0.50 EPI scores, while the USA has the lowest average EPI score environment vulnerable even though have higher economic development among the G7 group countries. We suggest a policy framework to strengthen the subject matter of the study.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  17. Sabri MF, Wahab R, Mahdzan NS, Magli AS, Rahim HA, Suhaimi SSA, et al.
    PLoS One, 2023;18(7):e0288204.
    PMID: 37440508 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288204
    Young adults face many significant challenges to their financial well-being. The rising cost of living and unstable economies have impacted how they consume, manage, and save monthly income to maintain their standard of living. Hence, exploring the financial well-being of young adults in Malaysia is an intriguing and relevant research topic that deserves examination from multiple perspectives. This study aims to investigate how these three factors, namely financial knowledge and locus of control with financial behaviour as a mediator, are correlated with the financial well-being of low-income young adults in Malaysia. A total of 520 young adults from North, Central, South, East zones in Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia were randomly chosen using a multi-stage sampling technique as the sample of this study. Data in this study were obtained using a set of questionnaire-based survey through cross-sectional study and then scrutinized using IBM SPSS (Statistical Package of Social Science). This study discovered that financial knowledge, internal and external locus of control, and financial behaviour were significantly correlated with the financial well-being of low-income young adults. The findings also demonstrate that financial behaviour mediates the correlation between financial knowledge, both internal and external locus of control, and financial well-being. This study is one of the very few important studies that explore the link between financial literacy, locus of control, financial behaviour, and financial well-being among low-income young adults. This study also found an interesting and noteworthy fact regarding the impact of the minimum monthly wage policy on highly educated young adults in Malaysia, which is worth discussing and needs to be alerted to the policymakers and leaders of the country. Therefore, the findings of this study can be utilized as a starting point by policymakers, government organizations, and non-governmental organizations to create new initiatives aimed at raising financial well-being among the younger generation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty*
  18. Jin J, Akau'ola S, Yip CH, Nthumba P, Ameh EA, de Jonge S, et al.
    World J Surg, 2021 07;45(7):1982-1998.
    PMID: 33835217 DOI: 10.1007/s00268-021-06065-9
    BACKGROUND: Trauma mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains high compared to high-income countries. Quality improvement processes, interventions, and structure are essential in the effort to decrease trauma mortality.

    METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis of interventional studies assessing quality improvement processes, interventions, and structure in developing country trauma systems was conducted from November 1989 to August 2020 according to the Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Studies were included if they were conducted in an LMIC population according to World Bank Income Classification, occurred in a trauma setting, and measured the effect of implementation and its impact. The primary outcome was trauma mortality.

    RESULTS: Of 37,575 search results, 30 studies were included from 15 LMICs covering five WHO regions in a qualitative synthesis. Twenty-seven articles were included in a meta-analysis. Implementing a pre-hospital trauma system reduced overall trauma mortality by 45% (risk ratio (RR) 0.55, 95% CI 0.4 to 0.75). Training first responders resulted in an overall decrease in mortality (RR 0.47, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.78). In-hospital trauma training with certified courses resulted in a reduction of mortality (RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.62 to 0.78). Trauma audits and trauma protocols resulted in varying improvements in trauma mortality.

    CONCLUSION: There is evidence that quality improvement processes, interventions, and structure can improve mortality in the trauma systems in LMICs.

    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
  19. Mohd Aliff Farhan Musa, Rafizah Musa
    MyJurnal
    Low-cost high rise housing project is developed to provide a chance for low-income
    citizen to own a house at a lower market price. Each low-cost high-rise residential
    building possesses its own building management body where one of its duties is to
    manage residential area after the strata title has been issued to the purchaser. The
    study was carried out to evaluate the level of satisfaction among residents of one lowcost
    housing area towards the maintenance activities administered by the building
    management body. This research employed mixed-method approach; quantitative and
    qualitative, as it able to capture accurate data from both residents and the building
    management body. This study concluded that the residents of Rumah Selangorku
    Damai Utama are mostly leaning towards dissatisfaction with the building and facilities
    maintenance services provided by the building management body.
    Matched MeSH terms: Poverty
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