Gambling participation and policies in Malaysia.

Regulatory policies for responsible gambling practices in Asia are constantly evolving as the gambling industry and technological landscape change over time. Malaysia makes an interesting case study for a commentary on gambling participation and policies, as this country has a unique dual justice system with religious and ethnic diversity that may impact on the way in which gambling activities are regulated. This regulatory ecosystem has important consequences on behaviour change, treatment approaches and recovery processes involved in gambling disorder.

Meeting the Challenge of Ebola Virus Disease in a Holistic Manner by Taking into Account Socioeconomic and Cultural Factors: The Experience of West Africa.

Even if an effective vaccine against Ebola virus disease (EVD) becomes available, the challenges posed by this disease are complex. Certain socioeconomic and cultural factors have been linked to recent outbreaks of EVD in West Africa. The outbreaks revealed widespread ignorance by laypersons of EVD etiology, mode of transmission, and personal protective measures that can be taken.

The Impact of Prolonged Economic Downturns and Economic Crises on the Nursing Profession.

Prolonged economic downturns and economic crises are affecting nations around the world, including developed countries such as Portugal, Spain, and Greece. In the United States, recovery from the latest economic crisis has been accompanied by a persistently high rate of unemployment. To a large extent, the impacts on the nursing profession may depend on the severity of economic downturns and their duration in the country of employment of nurses.

Redesigning healthcare systems to meet the health challenges associated with climate change in the twenty-first century.

In the twenty-first century, climate change is emerging as a significant threat to the health and well-being of the public through links to the following: extreme weather events, sea level rise, temperature-related illnesses, air pollution patterns, water security, food security, vector-borne infectious diseases, and mental health effects (as a result of extreme weather events and climate change-induced population displacement). This article discusses how national healthcare systems can be redesigned through changes in its components such as human resources, facilities and technology, health information system, and health policy to meet these challenges.

Ethical dilemmas related to predictions and warnings of impending natural disaster.

Scientists and policy makers issuing predictions and warnings of impending natural disaster are faced with two major challenges, that is, failure to warn and issuing a false alarm. The consequences of failure to warn can be serious for society overall, for example, significant economic losses, heavy infrastructure and environmental damage, large number of human casualties, and social disruption. Failure to warn can also have serious for specific individuals, for example, legal proceedings against disaster research scientists, as in the L'Aquila earthquake affair.

Ethical dilemmas in protecting individual rights versus public protection in the case of infectious diseases.

Infectious diseases-including emerging and re-emerging diseases such as Ebola and tuberculosis-continue to be important causes of morbidity and mortality in the globalizing, contemporary world. This article discusses the ethical issues associated with protecting the rights of individuals versus the protection of the health of populations in the case of infectious diseases. The discussion uses the traditional medical ethics approach together with the public health approach presented by Faden and Shebaya.

Does the granting of legal privileges as an indigenous people help to reduce health disparities? Evidence from New Zealand and Malaysia.

Both the Maori of New Zealand and the Orang Asli of Malaysia are indigenous peoples who have been subjected to prejudice, discrimination and displacement in its various forms by other ethnic groups in their respective countries. However, owing to changes in the socio-political climate, they have been granted rights (including legal privileges) in more recent times. Data pertaining to the health and socio-economic status of the Maori and the Orang Asli are analysed to see if the granting of legal privileges has made any difference for the two communities.

Post-disaster victimization: how survivors of disasters can continue to suffer after the event is over.

When public health researchers study the health effects of disasters (whether "naturally-occurring," disasters due to failure of technology, or disasters due to terrorism), some aspects of the post-disaster situation of victims are often overlooked. Social science research has shown that the vast majority of people tend to behave altruistically during and after a disaster. Nevertheless, cases of victimization of survivors do occur.

Health imperatives in foreign policy: the case of Malaysia.

Malaysia's global, regional and bilateral international health relations are surveyed against the historical backdrop of the country's foreign policy. Malaysia has always participated in multilateral agencies, most notably the World Health Organization, as such agencies are part of the longstanding fabric of "good international citizenship". The threats of infectious diseases to human health and economic activity have caused an intensification and an organizational formalization of Malaysian health diplomacy, both regionally and bilaterally.

The use of text messaging to improve attendance in primary care: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Non-attendance is common in primary care and previous studies have reported that reminders were useful in reducing broken appointments.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of a text messaging reminder in improving attendance in primary care.

Design: Multicentre three-arm randomized controlled trial.

Seroprevalence of Malassezia furfur in an urban population in Malaysia.

An in-house prepared M. furfur antigen was used to carry out a seroprevalence study in an urban population in Malaysia by indirect immunofluorescence assay. Of the 800 serum samples from all ages screened, 738 samples were positive for M.

Meeting the challenge of epidemic infectious disease outbreaks: an agenda for research.

Challenges arising from epidemic infectious disease outbreaks can be more effectively met if traditional public health is enhanced by sociology. The focus is normally on biomedical aspects, the surveillance and sentinel systems for infectious diseases, and what needs to be done to bring outbreaks under control quickly. Social factors associated with infectious disease outbreaks are often neglected and the aftermath is ignored.