Comparison of behaviors regarding live poultry exposure among rural residents in Vietnam and Thailand.

Introduction: Live poultry exposure and risk behaviors are more prevalent in rural communities, increasing the risk of influenza A/H5N1 infection. We examined the economic and socio-cultural influences on poultry-related practices by comparing the poultry-related practices among Vietnamese and Thai rural residents by family income and consumption preference.

Methods: Stratified cluster sampling was performed to select households.

Multiple impacts of epilepsy and contributing factors: findings from an ethnographic study in Vietnam.

We investigated issues related to treatment, impact of epilepsy, attitudes toward epilepsy, and disclosure in Vietnam through in-depth interviews with people with epilepsy (PWE) and their family members. We found that although participants prefer Western to traditional treatment, they experience problems in accessing different kinds of antiepileptic drugs and higher-level treatment facilities and with respect to treatment expenses. The impact of epilepsy can be observed in a wide range of daily living activities which include working, education, marriage, and family formation.

The costs of smoking in Vietnam: the case of inpatient care.

Objective: To estimate the social costs of smoking related to inpatient care in Vietnam using 2005 data.

Design: The cost of illness as a result of hospitalisation for three major smoking-related diseases combined with the prevalence-based approach to obtain the costs of smoking in Vietnam for inpatient care.

Main Outcome Measure: Smoking-attributable costs of inpatient care for lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and ischaemic heart disease.