Visual recording of human subjects is commonly used in biomedical disciplines for clinical, research, legal, academic and even personal purposes. Guidelines on practice standards of biomedical recording have been issued by certain health authorities, associations and journals, but none of the literature discusses this from an Islamic perspective. This article begins with a discussion on the general rules associated with visual recording in Islam, followed by modesty issues in biomedical recording and issues of informed consent and confidentiality. In order to be deemed ethical from the Islamic perspective, all the aforementioned criteria must conform to, or not contradict, Islamic teaching.
Introduction: The struggle of Muslim women to comply with Islamic teaching while working in the healthcare sector has been a long-standing issue. Following the case of a Muslim nurse who was allegedly fired for non-adherence to the short-sleeve uniform rule, the Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association highlighted the need for a uniform guideline to prevent similar instances. Yet, no guideline has been issued to date. Materials and Methods: This conceptual study employed library research method to gather relevant materials. Library research was able to retrieve guidelines from seven Muslim-minority countries but none from Muslim-majority countries. Document analysis of the materials gathered was undertaken. The different guidelines were compared, with special reference to awrah-related issues. Results: Several major issues that healthcare personnel dress code considers are the safety, health, cleanliness, and comfort for both patients and healthcare personnel. Islamic dressing requirement is not only in line with clinical practice but Islam also highly promotes maintenance of safety, health, cleanliness, and comfort. The widely adopted ‘bare below the elbows (BBE) policy is the only practice that may contradict Islamic rules. However, some healthcare institutions in Muslim-minority countries allow modifications of uniform rules on religious grounds; some of the modifications are not observed in Muslim-majority countries. When providing direct patient care that requires BBE, the use of disposable over-sleeves is a good alternative to adhere to both clinical and Islamic standards. Conclusion: Healthcare personnel dress code policy that is concordant to both clinical and Islamic standards is possible although it may require greater resources.
Anemia is a significant public health problem worldwide especially among pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries. In this study, a mathematical model of the population dynamics of anemia during pregnancy and postpartum is constructed. In the modeling process, four independent variables have been considered: (1) the numbers of nonpregnant nonanemic women, (2) anemic nonpregnant women, (3) anemic pregnant or postpartum women and (4) anemic pregnant or postpartum women with complications. The mathematical model is governed by a system of first-order ordinary differential equations. The stability analysis of the model is conducted using Routh-Hurwitz criteria. There is one nonnegative equilibrium point which is asymptotically stable. The equilibrium point obtained indicates the influential parameters that can be controlled to minimize the number of patients at each stage. The proposed model can be employed to forecast the future incidence and prevalence of the disease and appraise intervention programs.