Community engagement for malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong Sub-region: a qualitative study among malaria researchers and policymakers.

Background: Community engagement has increasingly received attention in malaria research and programme interventions, particularly as countries aim for malaria elimination. Although community engagement strategies and activities are constantly developing, little is known about how those who implement research or programmes view community engagement. This article explores the perspectives of researchers and policy makers in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) on community engagement for malaria control and elimination.

Prospects and strategies for malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong Sub-region: a qualitative study.

Background: As malaria elimination becomes a goal in malaria-endemic nations, questions of feasibility become critical. This article explores the potential challenges associated with this goal and future strategies for malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.

Methods: Thirty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with policy makers (n = 17) and principal investigators (n = 15) selected based on their involvement in malaria prevention, control and elimination in the GMS.

Community engagement, social context and coverage of mass anti-malarial administration: Comparative findings from multi-site research in the Greater Mekong sub-Region.

Background: Between 2013 and 2017, targeted malaria elimination (TME), a package of interventions that includes mass drug administration (MDA)-was piloted in communities with reservoirs of asymptomatic P. falciparum across the Greater Mekong sub-Region (GMS). Coverage in target communities is a key determinant of the effectiveness of MDA.

The impact of targeted malaria elimination with mass drug administrations on falciparum malaria in Southeast Asia: A cluster randomised trial.

Background: The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) threatens global malaria elimination efforts. Mass drug administration (MDA), the presumptive antimalarial treatment of an entire population to clear the subclinical parasite reservoir, is a strategy to accelerate malaria elimination. We report a cluster randomised trial to assess the effectiveness of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) MDA in reducing falciparum malaria incidence and prevalence in 16 remote village populations in Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Lao People's Democratic Republic, where artemisinin resistance is prevalent.

Perceived stigma of leprosy among community members and health care providers in Lalitpur district of Nepal: A qualitative study.

Background: Leprosy remains a major stigmatizing condition. Stigma is a dynamic process resulting from the interaction between physical attributes caused by leprosy and the existing stereotypes in a community. Leprosy has pervasive impacts on all areas of life including psychosocial burden to an individual, social interaction, marriage, and employment.

The promise, problems and pitfalls of mass drug administration for malaria elimination: a qualitative study with scientists and policymakers.

Background: The emergence of artemisinin resistance in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) has prompted urgent containment measures. One possible approach is mass drug administration (MDA). This article explores attitudes towards and perceptions of MDA for malaria elimination among policymakers and leading malariologists.

Earthquakes, Fuel Crisis, Power Outages, and Health Care in Nepal: Implications for the Future.

Earthquakes are a major natural calamity with pervasive effects on human life and nature. Similar effects are mimicked by man-made disasters such as fuel crises and power outages in developing countries. Natural and man-made disasters can cause intangible human suffering and often leave scars of lifelong psychosocial damage.

Hidden Costs of Hospital Based Delivery from Two Tertiary Hospitals in Western Nepal.

Introduction: Hospital based delivery has been an expensive experience for poor households because of hidden costs which are usually unaccounted in hospital costs. The main aim of this study was to estimate the hidden costs of hospital based delivery and determine the factors associated with the hidden costs.

Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted among 384 post-partum mothers with their husbands/house heads during the discharge time in Manipal Teaching Hospital and Western Regional Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal.

Perceived Stigma towards Leprosy among Community Members Living Close to Nonsomboon Leprosy Colony in Thailand.

Background: Interpretation of Leprosy as a sickness differs among society. The set of beliefs, knowledge and perceptions towards a disease play a vital role in the construction of stigma towards a disease. The main purpose of this study was to explore the extent and correlates of the perceived stigma towards leprosy in the community living close to the leprosy colony in Non Somboon region of Khon Kaen Province of Thailand.

Factors affecting perceived stigma in leprosy affected persons in western Nepal.

Background: There are various factors which construct the perception of stigma in both leprosy affected persons and unaffected persons. The main purpose of this study was to determine the level of perceived stigma and the risk factors contributing to it among leprosy affected person attending the Green Pastures Hospital, Pokhara municipality of western Nepal.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 135 people affected by leprosy at Green Pastures Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre.

Sexual behavior of foreign backpackers in the Khao San Road area, Bangkok.

Travelers play a role in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV because of having unprotected sex. We studied the incidence of casual sex among foreign backpack tourists in the Khao San Road area of Bangkok, Thailand. We also evaluated their attitudes about sexual health and their actual practices.

Maximal strength training in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis or osteopenia.

Current guidelines recommend weight-bearing activities, preferably strength training for improving skeletal health in patients with osteoporosis. What type of strength training that is most beneficial for these patients is not established. Maximal strength training (MST) is known to improve 1-repetition maximum (1RM) and rate of force development (RFD), which are considered as important covariables for skeletal health.

Plantar flexion: an effective training for peripheral arterial disease.

This study examined whether a training intervention likely to elicit adaptations in the leg could result in reduced leg pain and increased whole body physical capacity. Twenty-seven peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patients were randomized to either an individual leg plantar flexion training group (TG) training 4 x 4 min intervals at 80% of maximal work rate three times per week for 8 weeks or a control group. The TG significantly increased plantar flexion peak oxygen uptake and power output by 23.

Pressure during compaction of morsellised bone gives an increase in stiffness: an in vitro study.

Morsellised bone impaction is used in joint prosthesis revision surgery to repair structural damage to the periarticular bone stock. The initial stiffness of the impacted bone is crucial for the survival of the revised hip joint. Impaction of morsellised bone in a femoral canal can cause fractures that may induce implant loosening in both femur and acetabulum.

Partial antagonism of endothelin 1-induced vasoconstriction in the human choroid by topical unoprostone isopropyl.

Background: There is increasing evidence that reduced ocular blood flow plays a role in the pathogenesis of glaucoma. In patients with normal-tension glaucoma, ocular blood flow abnormalities may be associated with dysfunction of the endothelin 1 (ET-1) regulation system.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that unoprostone, a topical docosanoid, may affect ET-1--induced vasoconstriction in the human choroid.