Fifty-two patients with falciparum malaria during pregnancy were studied in Taunggyi, Shan States, Burma, during the period of April 1985 through December 1986. Severely ill cases were all treated with quinine, but uncomplicated cases were randomised to receive either quinine or amodiaquine. Fifty-one age-matched non-pregnant female patients were also randomised to receive either quinine or amodiaquine. All clinical and laboratory parameters were comparable between pregnant and non-pregnant group of patients. Falciparum malaria was most frequent among primigravidae, and occurred most frequently in the second trimester for all parities. There were no differences in parasite density, fever clearance and parasite clearance between groups with different parity or gestational period. Quinine and amodiaquine treatment were equally effective. The outcome of pregnancy with and without anti-malarial prophylaxis is discussed.
Human resources for health (HRH) are the cornerstone of health systems, enabling the improvement of health service coverage. The systematic fortification of healthcare in Myanmar has accelerated since a new ruling party took office. Since 2006, Myanmar has been listed as one of the 57 crisis countries facing critical health workforce shortages. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the current situation of HRH in the public health sector where major healthcare services are provided to the people of Myanmar.A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to May 2017 by collecting secondary data from the official statistic of the Ministry of Health and Sports (MoHS), official reports, press-releases, and presentations of Government officials. The data were collected using a formatted excel spreadsheet. A descriptive analysis was applied and the density ratio per 1,000 population for medical doctors and health workers was calculated.In total, 16,292 medical doctors and 36,054 nurses working at 1,134 hospitals were under the management of MoHS in 2016. The finding revealed that 13 out of 15 States and Regions were below the WHO recommended minimum number of 1 per 1,000 population for medical doctor. The distribution of medical doctors per 1,000 population in the public sector showed a gradually decreasing trend since 2006. Urban and rural medical doctor ratios observed wide disparities.The HRH shortage occurred in almost all State and Regions of Myanmar, including major cities. Wide disparities of HRH were found in urban and rural areas. The Myanmar government needs to consider the proper cost-effective HRH supply-chain management systems and retention strategies. The projection of health workforce, distribution of workforce by equity, effective management, and health information systems should be strengthened.
Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified COVID-19 as a novel lung condition caused by an emerging virus. Socioeconomic factors significantly influence preventive behaviors like handwashing, wearing masks, social distancing, coughing cover, and avoiding touching the face to reduce COVID-19 transmission. Aim was to determine factors influencing COVID-19 preventive behavior among selected households. Methods: The cross-sectional descriptive study with 700 samples was conducted from July 2022 to December 2023 that collected quantitative data using an interviewer-administered questionnaire that was converted to Open Data Kit, a mobile data tool in Thanlyin Township, Yangon, Myanmar. Objective of study was to determine the association between socio-demographics, knowledge and preventive COVID-19 behaviors in this township residence over the age of 18 years old. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent t-test, and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data. Results: The overall mean score of knowledge related to COVID-19 was 25.95±7.07, whereas 37.48±15.05 was for preventive behaviors. After multiple linear regression, participants who living in urban, single, passed high educational status, family members who had COVID history, COVID-19 patients who had underlying diseases reported higher preventive behavior where as participants who had co morbidity reported lower performing preventive COVID-19 behaviors. Those participants with higher knowledge scores reported higher preventive COVID-19 behaviors (β=0.312, p=0.000). Conclusions: Public health interventions should utilize these experiences to effectively communicate and promote preventive measures, thereby enhancing the targeting and impactful nature of future infectious disease prevention efforts.
Accurate estimates of typhoid disease burden are needed to guide policy decisions, including on vaccine use. Data on the incidence of enteric fever in Myanmar are scarce. We estimated typhoid and paratyphoid fever incidence among adolescents and adults in Yangon, Myanmar, by combining sentinel hospital surveillance with a healthcare utilization survey.We conducted a population-based household health care utilization survey in the Yangon Region 12 March through 5 April 2018. Multipliers derived from this survey were then applied to hospital-based surveillance of Salmonella Typhi and Paratyphi A bloodstream infections from 5 October 2015 through 4 October 2016 at Yangon General Hospital (YGH) to estimate the incidence of typhoid and paratyphoid fevers among person ≥12 years of age.A total of 336 households representing 1598 persons were enrolled in the health care utilization survey, and multipliers were derived based on responses to questions about healthcare seeking in the event of febrile illness. Of 671 Yangon residents enrolled over a 1-year period at YGH, we identified 33 (4.9%) with Salmonella Typhi and 9 (1.3%) with Salmonella Paratyphi A bloodstream infection. After applying multipliers, we estimated that the annual incidence of typhoid was 391 per 100 000 persons and paratyphoid was 107 per 100 000 persons.Enteric fever incidence is high in Yangon, Myanmar, warranting increased attention on prevention and control, including consideration of typhoid conjugate vaccine use as well as nonvaccine control measures. Research on incidence among infants and children, as well as sources and modes of transmission is needed.
Background: Adequate knowledge and good practice regarding menstrual hygiene are crucial for the reproductive health of the adolescent girls. Mismanagement of the menstrual hygiene leads to reproductive tract infections (RTIs) which in turn can suffer infertility in later life. Nowadays, millions of women are sufferers of RTIs and its complications and often this infection is transmitted to the offspring of the pregnant mothers. Methods and materials: Thus, with the objective of assessing knowledge and practice on menstruation and menstrual hygiene among adolescent schoolgirls, this school based cross-sectional study was conducted among 432 adolescent schoolgirls studying at 9th to 11th grades from May to December, 2016 in Mawlamyine Township, Myanmar by using self-administered questionnaires. Results: Age of the respondents ranged between 12 and 18 years. Less than half (47.69%) had heard about menstruation before menarche. Only 36.57% of the respondent had good knowledge regarding menstruation and menstrual hygiene. More than 80% did not know that RTIs can be caused by poor menstrual hygiene practices. More than half did not know any diseases due to malpractices. About 30% did not know any symptom due to heavy menstruation and poor menstrual hygiene. Mothers were the major source of information. The proportion of poor menstrual hygiene practice in this study were 64.58%. According to the multivariate analysis, knowledge regarding menstrual hygiene management were better among those whose age of 14-15 years (aOR = 1.90; 95%CI 1.17, 3.09) and whose mother were highly educated (aOR = 5.68; 95%CI 2.02, 15.97). However, adolescents who living in rural area (aOR = 0.50; 95% CI 0.27, 0.89) and those who did not receive health education talk regarding menstrual hygiene at school (aOR = 0.61; 95% CI 0.38, 0.98) were less likely to have good knowledge about menstrual hygiene. Conclusion: In summary, both knowledge and practice of menstrual hygiene were poor among adolescent schoolgirls in this study. Hence, educating adolescent schoolgirls about menstruation, its importance and hygiene maintenance is urgently needed especially in rural area, so as to enable them to lead a healthy reproductive life in future.
Sex trading is a recognized risk factor for human immune deficiency virus infection and other sexually transmitted infections among non-injecting drug users (NIDUs). However, very little research has addressed the factors associated with sex trading among male NIDUs in Myanmar.A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to February 2010 using the respondent-driven sampling method. In total, 210 NIDUs aged between 18 and 49 years, with no history of injecting drug use, and who used non-injected illicit drugs in the last 6 months were recruited. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire to collect information on participants' sexual and drug use behaviors. Binary and multivariate logistic regressions were applied to analyze the resulting data.Of 210 NIDUs, 84 (40%) reported involvement in the sex trade during the last 3 months. In the adjusted model, factors associated with sex trade involvement included homosexual preference (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 4.90; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.61-14.95), having more than two partners (AOR = 3.88; 95% CI 1.55-9.72), had a regular job (AOR = 5.10; 95% CI 1.65-15.72), use of stimulant drugs rather than opiate (AOR = 2.38; 95% CI 1.10-5.15), and who used drugs more than twice per day.More than one third of NIDUs were involved in sex trading. This study suggested that further comprehensive intervention programs that aim to reduce risk factors of trading sex among NIDUs may consider including NIDUs who used stimulant drugs, had regular/full-time jobs, used drugs more than twice per day, and had homosexual preferences.
Background: Non-communicable diseases, specifically the burden of hypertension, have become a major public health threat to low- and middle-income countries, such as Myanmar. Inadequate knowledge of hypertension and its management among people may hinder its effective prevention and treatment with some groups at particular increased risks, but evidence on this is lacking for Myanmar. The aims of this study were therefore to assess the level of knowledge of risk factors, symptoms and complications of hypertension, by hypertension treatment status, community group-membership, and sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors in Myanmar.Methods: Data was collected through structured questionnaires in 2020 on a random sample of 660 participants, stratified by region and existence of community groups. Knowledge of hypertension was measured with the ‘Knowledge’ part of a validated ‘Knowledge, Attitude and Practice’ survey questionnaire and categorised into ill-informed and reasonably to well-informed about hypertension. Results: The majority of respondents seem reasonably to well-informed about risk factors, symptoms and complications of hypertension. This did not vary by hypertension treatment status and community group membership. People with jobs (B=0.96; 95%-confidence interval 0.343 to 1.572) and higher education (B=1.96; 0.060 to 3.868) had more hypertension knowledge than people without jobs or low education. Adherence to treatment among hypertensive people was low.Conclusion: This study shows a majority of participants in this study in Myanmar seem reasonably to well-informed, with no differences by hypertension status, treatment status, and community group-membership. People without jobs and low education have less hypertension knowledge, making them priority groups for tailored education on health care level as well as community level, lowering the burden of hypertension. Almost half of the hypertensive patients did not take their medicines and therefore, adherence to treatment of hypertension should be an important element for future health education.
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