Knowledge of potential risk of blood-borne viral infections and tattooing practice among adults in Mandalay Region, Myanmar.

Introduction: Tattooing especially gains popularity among both men and women in adulthood from the wide range of socioeconomic groups and is noted as a risk taking behaviour in adults. Especially when tattooing does not perform to the highest standards, it can potentially be the hazardous practice. Myanmar has a paucity of evidence-based information on the estimated prevalence of tattoos and awareness of potential disease transmission from tattooing under insanitary conditions as well as the infection risk.

Engagement of public and private medical facilities in tuberculosis care in Myanmar: contributions and trends over an eight-year period.

Background: As part of the WHO End TB strategy, national tuberculosis (TB) programs increasingly aim to engage all private and public TB care providers. Engagement of communities, civil society organizations and public and private care provider is the second pillar of the End TB strategy. In Myanmar, this entails the public-public and public-private mix (PPM) approach.

Challenges faced by skilled birth attendants in providing antenatal and intrapartum care in selected rural areas of Myanmar.

Background: In Myanmar a large proportion of antenatal and intrapartum care in rural areas is provided by skilled birth attendants (SBAs), this study assessed the coverage by these health workers of all births, their adherence to service guidelines, and community opinion on the antenatal and delivery care they give in two rural health centres in Pathein Township, Ayeyarwaddy Region to identify the challenges and improve antenatal and intrapartum service delivery provided by the SBAs.

Method: A structured questionnaire was used to interview 304 women who had infants under one year of age, and in-depth interviews were held with 12 SBAs and 10 community members.

Results: Of the 304 pregnancies, 93% had received antenatal care (ANC); 97% of these were covered by SBAs at an average 15 weeks' gestation.

Why person affected by leprosy did not look after their plantar ulcer? Experience from Pakokku zone, Myanmar.

A cross-sectional study was carried out to identify methods of caring plantar ulcers in leprosy patients and the underlying causes of poor plantar ulcer care during January and February 2008. This was conducted in Pakokku zone as it was one of the "9 selected townships of the Disabilities survey, i.e.

Needs assessment for income generation training of youths in leprosy families of a leprosy village in Myanmar.

After Myanmar eliminated leprosy in 2003, the prevention of disability (POD), as well as prevention of worsening disabilities (POWD) and rehabilitation became a new agenda, which is one of three national strategies of leprosy control beyond 2005. Since the training needs for income generation for youths living in leprosy villages were not well known, a small-scale survey was conducted in May 2005. This study found that the youths in Mayanchaung village, Yangon Division, were eager to receive training on income generation.

Profile of cataract patients in the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, Rangoon.

We report on our experience of cataract surgery in the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital (EENTH), Rangoon. Cataract patients constituted 52% of all those admitted with eye diseases to the EENTH in a year. The mean number of cataract cases operated per month was 282.