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Fulltext Follow-up data on patent expiry and atorvastatin price: experiences in Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand

Kemp-Casey A, Ceria-Perena J, Guerrero AM, Suchonwanich N, Salleh SM, Roughead EE

WHO South East Asia J Public Health, 2019 09;8(2):115-117.
PMID: 31441448 DOI: 10.4103/2224-3151.264857
Fulltext Generic medicines policies in the Asia Pacific region: ways forward

Nguyen TA, Hassali MAA, McLachlan A

WHO South East Asia J Public Health, 2013 Jan-Mar;2(1):72-74.
PMID: 28612828 DOI: 10.4103/2224-3151.115849

Generic medicines are a key strategy used by governments and third-party payers to contain medicines costs and improve the access to essential medicines. This strategy represents an important opportunity provided by the global intellectual property regimes to discover and develop copies of original products marketed by innovator companies once the patent protection term is over. While there is an extensive experience regarding generic medicines policies in developed countries, this evidence may not translate to developing countries. The generic medicines policies workshop at the Asia Pacific Conference on National Medicines Policies 2012 provided an important opportunity to discuss and document country-specific initiatives for improving access to and the rational of use of generic medicines in the Asia Pacific region. Based on the identified barriers and enablers to implementation of generic medicines policies in the region, a set of future action plans and recommendations has been made.
Fulltext Influencing factors for household water quality improvement in reducing diarrhoea in resource-limited areas

Zin T, Mudin KD, Myint T, Naing DKS, Sein T, Shamsul BS

WHO South East Asia J Public Health, 2013 Jan-Mar;2(1):6-11.
PMID: 28612817 DOI: 10.4103/2224-3151.115828

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Water and sanitation are major public health issues exacerbated by rapid population growth, limited resources, disasters and environmental depletion. This study was undertaken to study the influencing factors for household water quality improvement for reducing diarrhoea in resource-limited areas.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected from articles and reviews from relevant randomized controlled trials, new articles, systematic reviews and meta-analyses from PubMed, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and WELL Resource Centre For Water, Sanitation And Environmental Health.

DISCUSSION: Water quality on diarrhoea prevention could be affected by contamination during storage, collection and even at point-of-use. Point-of-use water treatment (household-based) is the most cost-effective method for prevention of diarrhoea. Chemical disinfection, filtration, thermal disinfection, solar disinfection and flocculation and disinfection are five most promising household water treatment methodologies for resource-limited areas.

CONCLUSION: Promoting household water treatment is most essential for preventing diarrhoeal disease. In addition, the water should be of acceptable taste, appropriate for emergency and non-emergency use.
Fulltext Monitoring medicines use to support national medicines policy development and implementation in the Asia Pacific region

Roughead EE, Lhazeen K, Socialine E, Bahri S, Park BJ, Holloway K

WHO South East Asia J Public Health, 2013 Apr-Jun;2(2):113-117.
PMID: 28612769 DOI: 10.4103/2224-3151.122946

Critical to the successful implementation of a national medicines strategy is evaluation of the policy and ongoing monitoring of medicine use. Methods for monitoring medicines use within countries vary depending on the country and its stage of medicines policy development and implementation. In this paper, we provide four case studies on monitoring medicines use to support national medicines policy development and implementation. Cases come from Bhutan, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Republic of Korea.
Practical Strategies for Improving Sustainability and Scale-up of Noncommunicable Disease-related Public Health Interventions: Lessons from the Better Health Program in Southeast Asia

Haregu T, Lim SC, Miranda M, Pham CT, Nguyen N, Suya I, et al.

WHO South East Asia J Public Health, 2023;12(1):15-37.
PMID: 37843178 DOI: 10.4103/WHO-SEAJPH.WHO-SEAJPH_140_22

INTRODUCTION: The Better Health Program has been addressing key health system issues in the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. As the program comes to an end, the sustainability and scaling-up of issues have assumed importance.
OBJECTIVES: The objective is to assess how well sustainability and scale-up strategies have been integrated into the design and implementation of a 3-year multicountry technical program; to explore enablers and barriers of sustainability and scaling up; and to identify practical strategies that can improve sustainability and scale-up of Better Health Program interventions.
METHODS: We applied a staged approach to explore barriers and enablers and to identify practical strategies to improve sustainability and scale-up of four NCD interventions: community-based obesity prevention, front-of-pack labeling, local learning networks (LLNs), and NCD surveillance. We extracted evidence from peer-reviewed literature and local documents. We also conducted in-depth interviews with the implementation teams and key stakeholders. We conducted a thematic synthesis of the resulting information to identify practical strategies that improve sustainability and scale-up of the four interventions.
RESULTS: Strong engagement of stakeholders at higher levels of the health system was identified as the main enabler, while limited funding and commitment from local governments were identified as a key barrier to sustainability and scale-up. Strengthening the social and institutional anchors of community health volunteers, enhancing evidence-based advocacy for front-of-pack labeling, trailblazing the LLN innovation, and securing the commitment of local governments in the implementation of NCD surveillance were among the key strategies for improving sustainability and scale-up of Better Health Program interventions in Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: This study identified practical strategies for improving sustainability and scale-up of NCD-related interventions. Implementation of the strategies that had high priority and feasibility will improve the sustainability of critical elements of the program in the respective countries.
Fulltext A Systematic review of sexual and reproductive health needs, experiences, access to services, and interventions among the rohingya and the afghan refugee women of reproductive age in Asia

Hossain MA, Dawson A

WHO South East Asia J Public Health, 2022;11(1):42-53.
PMID: 36308272 DOI: 10.4103/WHO-SEAJPH.WHO-SEAJPH_144_21

INTRODUCTION: Approximately 9.2 million refugees live in Asia, with most originating from Afghanistan and Myanmar, and half of them are women, girls, and children. Humanitarian crises disrupt the existing health-care system, limiting access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. This review explores the SRH status of Afghan and Rohingya refugee women of reproductive age in Asia and their needs and experiences in accessing these services and commodities.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used the PRISMA checklist and searched for qualitative and quantitative peer-reviewed studies from five online bibliographic databases, SCOPUS, EMBASE (Ovid), MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL, and PROQUEST, from January 2000 to April 2021. Content analysis was undertaken following the minimum initial service package objectives.
RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included in this review from four countries: Bangladesh (5), Pakistan (5), Iran (4), and Malaysia (1). Approximately 50.91% of Rohingya and 54% of Afghan refugee women used contraceptives. About 56.6% of Afghan refugee mothers experienced pregnancy-related complications, one-third received antenatal care, and low birth weight was 2.6 times higher among infants born to Afghan refugee mothers than to Pakistani-born mothers. One out of five Rohingya women received delivery-related care. Approximately 72% of Rohingya and 79.8% of Afghan refugee women had experienced gender-based violence, and 56.5% of Rohingya women engaged in unwanted sexual intercourse with their husbands.
CONCLUSION: Social norms, stigma, cultural values, distrust of providers, inadequate staff, and prohibition by family members limit their access to SRH services and influence their needs, knowledge, and perceptions regarding SRH.