Belaga District, in the heart of Borneo, is probably the most remote district in Sarawak. Although Belaga town is now accessible by land (50% are timber camp unsealed road) from Bintulu, the journey takes 5 hours and transport cost is high. Accessibility to Belaga by river is also subject to weather conditions and the town often gets cut off during the dry season and also during the wet season. All these pose immense challenges to the delivery of health care services to the people of Belaga and greatly reduce their accessibility to even basic health services. Access to specialist services is even more challenging as it is only available in Sibu and Bintulu; and visiting clinics in Belaga are infrequent due to the shortage of specialists and difficult transport. (Copied from article).
Factors that governed the setting up of a multipurpose, temporary Intensive Care Unit of six beds, in a remote area of Malaysia and the experience of operating it for more than two and a half years are outlined.
The traditional birth attendant (bidan kampong) or the TBA is still responsible for a substantial number of deliveries in Peninsular Malaysia. In the study area, the TBA s were responsible for about 47.2% of the deliveries in 1976. They were also responsible tor a substantial number of maternal deaths in the district. Therefore it was decided to identity and train the TBAs to identity ‘at risk’ cases at mothers and children and refer them to the nearest health facility. The TBA s were trained to use simple hygenic and aseptic procedures. At the end oi their training all at them were presented with a UNICEF midwifery kit. The short training proved useful because they now deliver fewer ‘at risk' cases and there is an in- creasing trend among them to refer the ‘at risk’ cases to the hospitals. The utilizations of TBA s in the maternal and child health program is a useful tool for the attainment at primary health care objective for developing countries by the year 2000.
Citation: A case study on institutional development in the water and sanitation sectors and integration of PHC with rural water supply and sanitation in Malaysia. Manila: World Health Organization, Regional Office for the Western Pacific; 1985
Citation: Awin N. A Review of Primary Health Care in Malaysia. A Report for the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region. Manila: World Health Organization Western Pacific Region; 2001
This study evaluates and discusses the impact of the rural health improvement scheme in reducing the incidence of dysentery, enteric fever, cholera and viral hepatitis in Sarawak, Malaysia, using data compiled from state and federal health department reports. This study suggests that from 1963 to 2002, water supply intervention contributed to a more than 200-fold decrease in dysentery and a 60-fold decrease in enteric fever. Variations in reporting of viral hepatitis during that period make it difficult to detect a trend. Cholera was still endemic in 2002. Cholera and dysentery outbreaks, occurring when rural populations relied on contaminated rivers for their water supply, suggested that sanitation intervention was not as effective in reducing waterborne diseases. Recommendations are made for successive one-component interventions focusing on catchment management to ensure protection of current and alternative water supplies.
Matched MeSH terms: Rural Health/standards*; Rural Health/trends; Rural Health Services/standards*; Rural Health Services/trends
We present our findings from a scoping review that sought to identify what is known about nursing and paramedic clinical supervisors' experiences of their supervision practices in rural settings. Our interest in these two groups is based on the central role that nurses and paramedics play in rural health care.
Malaysia has a population of 21.2 million of which 44% resides in rural areas. A major priority of healthcare providers has been the enhancement of health of 'disadvantaged' rural communities particularly the rural poor, women, infants, children and the disabled. The Ministry of Health is the main healthcare provider for rural communities with general practitioners playing a complimentary role. With an extensive network of rural health clinics, rural residents today have access to modern healthcare with adequate referral facilities. Mobile teams, the flying doctor service and village health promoters provide healthcare to remote areas. The improvement in health status of the rural population using universal health status indicators has been remarkable. However, differentials in health status continue to exist between urban and rural populations. Malaysia's telemedicine project is seen as a means of achieving health for all rural people.
Matched MeSH terms: Rural Health Services/supply & distribution*
A study of the prevalence and intensity of soil-transmitted helminthiasis among pre-school children aged 0 to 7 years from an Orang Asli village resettlement scheme in Gua Musang, Kelantan was undertaken. The overall prevalence of soil transmitted helminthic (STH) infections was 56.0%. The predominant helminth found was Ascaris lumbricoides while the commonest type of infection was a mixed infection with Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura. The prevalence rates of Ascaris, Trichuris and hookworm infections were 47.5%, 33.9% and 6.2% respectively. The intensity of Ascaris infections were 64.5% light, 27.3% moderate and 8.3% heavy whilst the intensity of Trichuris infections were 80.5% light, 18.3% moderate and 1.2% heavy. However, the intensity of hookworm infections were 86.7% light, 13.3% moderate and no heavy infection. The prevalence of helminthiasis (STH) shows an-age dependent relationship, with the lowest prevalence in 0-< 1 year age group and highest in the 6-< 7 year age group.
A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and its relationship with age, physical activity, nutritional status and diet amongst rural Malays in Kuala Selangor. By simple random sampling 360 subjects were selected for the study. Besides guided questionnaires, subjects also underwent a 2 hours post prandial (2HPP) test to determine the diabetic status as recommended by WHO. The crude prevalence of diabetes mellitus was 14.6% which increases with age. The prevalence of diabetes adjusted for age was 12.2%. Physical activity status seemed to be a significant risk factor for diabetes. A greater proportion of diabetics was obese and their mean fat intake was higher than normal subjects (p < 0.05). The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in this study was significantly higher compared with data from 1984 (3.9%), representing a marked increment of 212.8 per cent over a 10-year period.
Health indices of 317 healthy elderly Malay females 55 years and older from two rural subdistricts in Negeri Sembilan were collected through personal interviews. About 33% of the respondents perceived their health condition as good to excellent, 63.4% rated their health status compared to a year earlier as about the same, 48.3% had no worry about their health, and 49.2% perceived themselves as physically active as their peers. Arthritis was the major ailment which affected the daily activities of about 64% of the respondents. The classical age-related problems of poor hearing, poor sight and difficulty in chewing were also prevalent among these elderly.