Access to family planning services through general practitioners

In Myanmar, private medicine now plays a significant role in delivery of health care as well as the provision of family planning services. Thirty nine general practitioners, practicing in Sangyaung township, Yangon Division were inquired to determine the present situation of the family planning services provided by them. The majority (94.9 Percent) realised the importance of the family planning services and believed that, they could help people for birth spacing. The findings will be helpful for the future planning of Family Planning Services in Myanmar.

Nutritional status and rate of growth in children of rural Taikkyi

An investigation comprising a cross-sectional component to determine nutritional status and a longitudinal component to determine rate of growth of 2-12 year old children was carried out over a period of 2 years ending in August 1986 in a rural area of Thaikyi Township. The boys had higher values than girls for height for age, and weight for age from 2-11 years, and for mid-arm circumference from 2-10 years, after which the girls had values for the above nutritional indicators. Moreover, the girls had more triceps and subscapular skinfold thickness than boys by age. However, younger ages (2 to 4 years) and higher skinfold thickness than older ones (5 to 12 years) among the boys or girls. The malnutritional rate was about 50 per cent by height for age or weight for age, but was only 4.7 per cent weight for height. The girls had non-significant higher growth rate than boys and rates for both sexes 1 year were respectively. 5.78 cm among the 2-5 year and 6-10 year olds in terms of height, and 2.06 kg and 2.66 kg in weight among the above age groups. The data of the present study could from some basis for future assessment of nutritional status of children in country.

Utilization of hospital pharmacists in Yangon Division

A cross-sectional study was conducted in 13 hospitals in Yangon Division to explore the current situation with regard to the utilization of hospital pharmacists. In this study, the most commonly performed activities of hospital pharmacists were identified; the relationship between their perceptions of what they have learned and the frequency of performance of some selected activities analysed; and the attitudes of hospital pharmacists and other health team members on the role of pharmacists were being utilized mainly for drug store management. They were not being used apporiately for what they had been trained. Hospital managers and other close associates of hospital pharmacists in hospitals did not know the proper role of hospital pharmacists.

Intestinal Helminthiases in twenty one villages in Taikkyi township

<A> field research project was undertaken under the title "The relationship between the control of Ascaris infection and child nutritional status" in 21 villages in Taikkyi township. At the beginning of study in August 1984, a mass stool examination was done on 3 whole villages (n=1052) and on 2-12 year old children (n=1070) in the remaining 18 villages. In addition, deworming was carried out in randomly selected 8 villages, involving different age groups. The results were confined to the baseline study. Ascaris lumbricoides was the principal intestinal helminth and its infection rate was 77.38 per cent in the population as a whole. The prevalences of other infections were 5.63 per cent for Trichuris trichiura, 2.53 per cent for hook worm and 2.07 per cent for strongyloides stercoralis. By age, the prevalence of Ascaris infection was conspicously high in the 5-9, 10-14 and 15-19 years old. The mean worm burden per person in all the ages was 6.6 and the age-specific worm burden was highest in the 5 to 9 year age group, about 10 worms per child. The findings were compared with those of other studies. It is high time to develop a community-based mass chemotherapy programme to control ascariasis in Myanmar based on national experiences in previous control and research projects.