A five-year Coordinated Research Project (CRP) entitled 'Integrated approach for improving small scale market oriented dairy systems' is currently being implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency, through their Joint Programme on 'Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture'. The objectives are to (a) identify and prioritize the constraints and opportunities in the selected dairy farms; (b) determine the most important limiting factors; (c) develop intervention strategies; (c) assess the economic impact of the interventions; (d) develop methodologies for recording and demonstrating the economic impact; and (e) promote the adoption and dissemination of proven strategies and methodologies. Fifteen institutes in developing as well as developed countries are participating in the project, through ten research contracts (Bangladesh, Cameroon, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Tunisia and Venezuela), one technical contract (Peru) and four research agreements (Malaysia, U.K., U.S.A. and Uruguay). The initial phase of the project, which focused on the conduct of Participatory Rural Appraisals and Economic Opportunity Surveys in the countries of the research contract holders, has now been completed. This paper describes the background to the CRP approach and the procedures used for developing, initiating and implementing this project.
Newly affluent developing world cities increasingly adopt the same unfortunate low-density suburban paradigm that shaped cities in the industrialized world. Identified by a World Bank report as a "mini-Los Angeles," Kuala Lumpur is a sentinel example of the results of unrestrained sprawl in the developing world. Factors driving sprawl included government policies favoring foreign investment, "mega-projects," and domestic automobile production; fragmented governance structures allowing federal and state government influence on local planning; increasing middle-class affluence; an oligopoly of local developers; and haphazard municipal zoning and transport planning. The city's present form contributes to Malaysia's dual burden of disease, with inner-city shantytown dwellers facing communicable disease and malnutrition while suburban citizens experience increasing chronic disease, injury, and mental health issues. Despite growing awareness in city plans targeted toward higher density development, Kuala Lumpur presents a warning to other emerging economies of the financial, societal, and population health costs imposed by quickly-built suburban sprawl.
Publication year: 2013-2014
Most of the existing solid waste landfill sites in developing countries are practicing either open dumping or controlled dumping. Proper sanitary landfill concepts are not fully implemented due to technological and financial constraints. Implementation of a fully engineered sanitary landfill is necessary and a more economically feasible landfill design is crucial, particularly for developing countries. This study was carried out by focusing on the economics from the development of a new landfill site within a natural clay area with no cost of synthetic liner up to 10 years after its closure by using the Fukuoka method semi-aerobic landfill system. The findings of the study show that for the development of a 15-ha landfill site in Malaysia with an estimated volume of 2,000,000 m(3), the capital investment required was about US 1,312,895 dollars, or about US 0.84 dollars/tonne of waste. Assuming that the lifespan of the landfill is 20 years, the total cost of operation was about US 11,132,536 dollars or US 7.15 dollars/tonne of waste. The closure cost of the landfill was estimated to be US 1,385,526 dollars or US 0.89 dollars/tonne of waste. Therefore, the total cost required to dispose of a tonne of waste at the semi-aerobic landfill was estimated to be US 8.89 dollars. By considering an average tipping fee of about US 7.89 dollars/tonne of waste in Malaysia in the first year, and an annual increase of 3% to about US 13.84 dollars in year-20, the overall system recorded a positive revenue of US 1,734,749 dollars. This is important information for the effort of privatisation of landfill sites in Malaysia, as well as in other developing countries, in order to secure efficient and effective landfill development and management.
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a major occupational health issue for workers in developed and developing countries, including Malaysia. Most research related to MSDs has been undertaken in developed countries; given the different regulatory and cultural practices it is plausible that contributions of hazard and risk factors may be different. A population of Malaysian public service office workers were surveyed (N = 417, 65.5% response rate) to determine prevalence and associated predictors of MSD discomfort. The 6-month period prevalence of MSD discomfort was 92.8% (95%CI = 90.2-95.2%). Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) analyses was used to compare a range of models and determine a model of best fit. Contributions associated with MSD discomfort in the final model consisted of physical demands (61%), workload (14%), gender (13%), work-home balance (9%) and psychosocial factors (3%). Factors associated with MSD discomfort were similar in developed and developing countries but the relative contribution of factors was different, providing insight into future development of risk management strategies.
Foodborne diseases are common in the developing countries due to the predominant poor food handling and sanitation practices, particularly as a result of inadequate food safety laws, weak regulatory structures, and inadequate funding as well as a lack of appropriate education for food-handlers. The most frequently involved foods in disease outbreaks are of animal origin. However, in spite of the adequate legislation and laws governing the abattoir operation in Malaysia, compliance with food safety requirements during meat processing and waste disposal is inadequate. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the food safety knowledge, attitude, and practice toward compliance with abattoir laws among the workers in Terengganu, Malaysia.
The provision of appropriate waste management is not only an indicator of development but also of broader sustainability. This is particularly relevant to expanding cities in developing countries faced with rising waste generation and associated environmental health problems. Despite these urgent issues, city authorities often lack the evidence required to make well-informed decisions. This study evaluates the carbon and economic performance of low-carbon measures in the waste sector at a city level, within the context of a developing country. Palembang in Indonesia is used as a case of a medium-sized city in a newly industrialized country, with relevance to other similar cities in the developing world. Evidence suggests that the waste sector can achieve substantial carbon emission reductions, and become a carbon sink, in a cost effective way. Hence there is an economic case for a low carbon development path for Palembang, and possibly for other cities in developing and developed countries facing similar challenges.
Seasonal and pandemic influenza causes considerable morbidity and mortality globally, but the burden of disease is understudied and underreported in developing countries such as Malaysia. Before considering the cost-effectiveness of introducing interventions such as vaccines to control influenza, it is imperative to determine clinical and socioeconomic impact of the disease. This review summarises the main available literature on human influenza in Malaysia, the possible reasons for the lack of study and awareness of influenza, and important knowledge gaps for future study.
"A graphical chain modelling approach is used to study the determinants of neonatal and post-neonatal mortality in Malaysia. This approach provides an easily interpretable empirical description and illustrates explicitly the conditional independence structure between each pair of variables. The interpretation can be read directly from a mathematical graph. Besides examining the direct association of each determinant on mortality, we also examine the effects of socio-economic determinants on intermediate determinants to understand the pathways through which the socioeconomic determinants affect the chance of mortality. The data anlaysed come from the second Malaysian Family Life Survey, fielded between August 1988 and January 1989. "
For over 2 decades, until the economic crisis in mid-1997, Malaysia's rapid economic growth attracted an influx of foreign labor, mostly from Indonesia, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. In 1997 the number of registered workers was estimated at 1.2 million and undocumented ones at approximately 800,000. The influx created various problems, of which housing is one of the most serious, especially in the Kelang Valley. This paper examines the ways and means by which Indonesian workers, the largest group among foreigners, overcame their accommodation problem. Two types of settlements are identified, that is, illegal ones in the squatter areas and legal ones, which are largely in Malay Reservation Areas. The settlements, which signify Indonesians' success in finding a foothold in Malaysia, today have become a base for more in-migration.
Urgent action is needed to fight the alarming spread of HIV/AIDS that infected 1.3 million people in Southeast Asia last year alone, Malaysia's foreign minister said July 24, 2000. Syed Hamid said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should tackle at regional and national level an epidemic that was taking its most drastic toll among the region's youth. "HIV/AIDS not only represents a major public health and social problem but is a serious challenge to development as well," Syed Hamid told the opening ceremony of ASEAN's 33rd annual foreign ministers' meeting. The crisis requires commitment at the "highest political level," he said, warning that HIV/AIDS could become a transnational problem within the 10-member group. Foreign ministers have recommended their leaders discuss the crisis later this year at an informal summit in Singapore and hold a summit on HIV/AIDS in conjunction with the 7th ASEAN Summit in Brunei next year. "I think people recognized the importance and the adverse impacts on our social development," Syed Hamid told reporters later. "I think it is a real issue that we cannot run away from." Among ASEAN members, Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar have some of the highest infection rates in Asia of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
On the eve of International Women's Day, 80 women representing five women's groups in Malaysia, including Persatuan Sahabat Wanita, CAW's network member, marched from Petaling Jaya to Penang to attend the Women's Day celebration. The group had organized the visitation in order to strengthen its networking. During their meeting with some reporters before their departure to Penang, they demanded that the women's groups be consulted before any guideline on the prevention and handling of sexual harassment at the workplace is drawn up. They said that they have been handling several complaints and their input would help the Human Resource Ministry formulate a comprehensive set of guidelines. This demand by the women's group was in response to the announcement by the Human Resource Minister Datuk Lim Ah Lek that in a month time a code would be ready on guidelines about the establishment and implementation of in-house preventive and redress mechanisms for dealing with sexual harassment.
In Western countries, it has been shown that coronary heart disease (CHD) is related to high serum total cholesterol (TC) levels. In less developed continents such as Asia and Africa, serum lipid levels are low and CHD incidence is much lower as compared with Western countries. With growing urbanization and industrialization in Asia, it has been shown that there is a concomitant rise in the level of serum TC and with it a rise in CHD. In all the Asian countries, serum TC levels are also higher in the urban compared with the rural population. Singapore, the only Asian country which is 100% urbanized since 1980, showed a rise of serum TC similar to that seen in the US and UK from the 1950s to the 1980s followed thereafter by a fall. This is reflected in the trend (rise followed by a fall) of CHD morbidity and mortality as well. In spite of a declining trend in serum TC level, CHD morbidity and mortality are still high in Singapore and comparable to the Western countries. The rest of the Asian countries show a different pattern from Singapore. In general, there is still a rising trend in serum TC level and in CHD mortality in most Asian countries. However, Japan is considered an exception in having a decreasing CHD mortality in spite of an increasing trend in serum TC. This may be attributed to a better control of other CHD risk factors such as hypertension and smoking. The rising trend in serum TC level remains a cause for concern, as this will emerge as a major problem for CHD morbidity and mortality in the future.
PIP: On July 21, 2000, the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) Malaysia, in cooperation with the UN Population Fund and the UN Development Program (Malaysia), organized the National HIV/AIDS Seminar for Parliamentarians in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. During the seminar, Mr. Colin Hollis, secretary general of AFPPD, spoke about the challenge posed by HIV/AIDS on the government. He noted that the epidemic is a part of life and these figures should not only challenge the assumptions of legislators but for them to act as well. He further informed that AFPPD would organize the Asia-Africa Meeting of Parliamentarians and Asia European Dialogue.