The internet has become an important medium for learning and communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for university students. Nevertheless, an increase in internet usage could predispose people to internet addiction (IA) and internet gaming (IG). Equally, there is concern that anxiety levels have increased during the pandemic. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of IA and IG, and their associations with anxiety among medical students during the pandemic. Data were collected during the second wave of the “Conditional Movement Control Order” (CMCO) in Malaysia between 12 November and 10 December 2020. A total of 237 students participated through proportionate stratified random sampling in this cross-sectional study. They completed a set of online questionnaires which consisted of a sociodemographic profile, the Malay version of the internet addiction test (MVIAT), the Malay version of the internet gaming disorder-short form (IGDS9-SF) and the Malay version of the depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21). The prevalence of IA and internet gaming disorder (IGD) were 83.5% and 2.5%, respectively. A multiple logistic regression showed that those in pre-clinical years had a greater risk of anxiety than those in clinical years [(AOR) = 2.49, p-value 0.01, 95% CI = 1.22–5.07]. In contrast, those who scored high on IA were protected against anxiety [AOR = 0.100, p-value 0.03, 95% CI = 0.01–0.76)]. In conclusion, IA was highly prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic and its high usage might serve as a protective factor against anxiety among the medical students in this study sample.

Economic losses due to health-related implications of air pollution were huge and incurred significant burdens towards healthcare providers. The objective of this study is to systematically review published literature on the financial implications of air pollution on health in Asia. Four databases: PubMed, Scopus, NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED), and Web of Science (WoS) were used to identify all the relevant articles. It was limited to all articles that had been published in the respected databases from January 2007 until March 2017. Twenty-four articles were included in this review. Five of the 24 studies (20.8%) reported financial implications of air pollution-related disease through value of statistical life (VOSL) which ranged from USD180 million to USD2.2 billion, six (25%) studies used cost of illness (COI) to evaluate air pollution-related morbidity and found that the cost ranged from USD5.4 million to USD9.1 billion. Another six studies (25%) used a combination of VOSL and COI for both mortality and morbidity valuation and found that the financial implications ranging from USD253 million to USD2.9 billion. Thirteen (54.2%) studies reported healthcare cost associated with both hospital admission and outpatient visit, five (20.1%) on hospital admission only, and one (4.2%) on outpatient visit only. Economic impacts of air pollution can be huge with significant deterioration of health among the Asians.

Several of the coastal zones in Sabah, Malaysia, are isolated and inaccessible. This study aimed to review the published literature on the health status of the coastal communities in Sabah. The following four main health issues were found: (i) malaria, (ii) tuberculosis (TB), (iii) seafood poisoning, and (iv) antenatal problems. Factors associated with the risk of acquiring malarial infection in the studied coastal area were advanced age, male sex, farming as an occupation, history of travel outside the village, and rainy seasons. TB infection was primarily observed in adult men. Seafood poisoning was significantly common in Sabah. Studies have reported that tetrodotoxin and paralytic shellfish poisoning were commonly reported (30–60 cases annually). Several pregnant women in the coastal community had insufficient knowledge of the national antenatal care programme. Nonetheless, 99% of them received antenatal care at public healthcare facilities with 92% of them undergoing safe delivery. Nevertheless, a majority of the pregnant women had iodine deficiency due to low iodised salt intake. Findings from this review highlighted that the coastal communities in Sabah are experiencing significant health problems. Specific attention is required to significantly enhance the health and well-being of the individuals living in the coastal communities in Sabah.