ABSTRACT
Tuberculosis (TB) is a significant public health concern. Globally, TB is among the top 10 and the leading cause of death due to a single infectious agent. Providing standard anti-TB therapy for at least 6 months is recommended as one of the crucial strategies to control the TB epidemic. However, the long duration of TB treatment raised the issue of non-adherence. Non-adherence to TB therapy could negatively affect clinical and public health outcomes. Thus, directly observed therapy (DOT) has been introduced as a standard strategy to improve anti-TB medication adherence. Nonetheless, the DOT approach has been criticized due to inconvenience, stigma, reduced economic productivity, and reduced quality of life, which ultimately could complicate adherence issues. Apart from that, its effectiveness in improving anti-TB adherence is debatable. Therefore, digital technology could be an essential tool to enhance the implementation of DOT. Incorporating the health belief model (HBM) into digital technology can further increase its effectiveness in changing behavior and improving medication adherence. This article aimed to review the latest evidence regarding TB medication non-adherence, its associated factors, DOT’s efficacy and its alternatives, and the use of digital technology and HBM in improving medication adherence. This paper used the narrative review methodology to analyze related articles to address the study objectives. Conventional DOT has several disadvantages in TB management. Integrating HBM in digital technology development is potentially effective in improving medication adherence. Digital technology provides an opportunity to improve medication adherence to overcome various issues related to DOT implementation.
ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: Poor waste management led to mosquito breeding grounds. Previous research found that construction sites are the mosquito breeding area thus it’s important to understand how construction sites affect mosquito breeding. Methods: This study utilized a prospective study to determine the characteristic of breeding preference in residential construction sites. On-field breeding preference survey was conduct in the selected project site in 12 weeks (1st October 2021 until 31st December 2021). Wet container inspection was carried out according to types of the residential construction building and progress of the site. All possible wet materials and containers was inspected and record accordingly in the form during the surveillance. Results: Result shows that the most preferred containers found was building floor (41.68%), others such as planter box that use for landscape purpose, drainage system, building mould and lift wells. The results of the research indicate that prospective containers with water and breeding sites at high rise construction sites were found to be more than those at low rise construction sites. Conclusion: Overall, substantially fewer water containers were discovered in low rise projects compared to high rise projects. Construction management need encourage all the workers to do best management practice such as proper waste disposal and removal of the water and possible wet container and conduct awareness among the workers.
ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: The trend of several mosquito-borne diseases in Malaysia has shown an increasing pattern over the past few years despite close monitoring and continuous control initiatives by public health authority. The objective of this study is to determine the spatial and temporal epidemiology of mosquito-borne disease in Terengganu from the year 2009 to 2018. Terengganu has been selected because it is geographically unique and experiences two monsoon seasons per year. Methods: Weekly surveillance data of mosquito-borne diseases which include dengue fever, malaria, filariasis, Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and chikungunya from 2009 to 2018 were collected from the Terengganu State Health Department. The variables included in the dataset mainly comprises of disease onset, diagnosis, case category, area (district) and site of onset. The data has been monitored spatial and temporal in which to explore the distribution pattern of the disease. The annual average for each type of mosquito-borne disease was determined using time-series and is further analysed by using geographical information system (GIS) tools to form spatial statistical analysis. Results: Results indicate that the temporal distribution of the mosquito-borne disease in Terengganu increases slightly despite a fluctuating pattern from the year 2009 to 2018 and there are between each type of mosquito-borne disease. Spatial analysis showed different stratification between seasons as well as the areas that are more susceptible to each disease. Conclusion: The results obtained in this present study through spatial and temporal analysis revealed that mosquito-borne diseases show a dynamic pattern in distribution. It can be concluded that the occurrence of the diseases depends on the geographical area and the weather within the region. This study provides public health authorities with a comprehensive assessment that will be useful for surveillance and monitoring, as well as for predicting and managing mosquito-borne disease outbreaks effectively