A survey of 350 farmers was conducted in the lowland rainfed agricultural system of central Myanmar (Burma) to examine the importance of rodents, farmers' perception of the causes of yield loss, and their beliefs as to why they undertake rodent management. Farmers grew monsoon rice, summer rice and mungbeans with the major constraints upon production identified as pests (29.4% of respondents), followed by insufficient water (19.4%). The main pests were insects (48.6%), followed by rats (40.9%); however, farmers thought that rats caused most damage to their crops (47.7% of respondents; insects 30.3%), and were the most important pest to control. Farmers estimated that rodents caused 13% yield loss. Most farmers believed they could increase yields if they were to work together to control rats, but 61.1% applied rodent control individually. Most farmers (81%) thought that rodenticides were not safe despite 33% using them. Rodents were clearly identified as a significant problem by farmers. With an understanding of the main rodent pest species, ecology and crop damage, ecologically based management strategies for the lowland rainfed rice system in Myanmar can be developed.

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been introduced in the Phase 1 curriculum of Doctor of Medicine programme at Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, UCSI University since its inception in 2005. The main objective of this study was to investigate the perception of medical students on problembased learning sessions. A cross sectional study was conducted on a total of 115 medical students from June 2011 to June 2012. Forty nine (42.6%), 31(27%) and 35(30.4%) medical students from first, second and third years respectively participated in the study. The questionnaire included 23 statements to assess the benefits and disadvantages of PBL and the requirements in PBL sessions. Findings revealed that the majority agreed with statements on benefits-PBL motivates students for self-learning (80.9%), enhances discovery of learning issues (78.3%), provides critical thinking skills (71.3%), improves communication skills (80%) and enhances in obtaining new information (85.2%). Sixty percent (n=69) responded that PBL was time consuming and 84 (73.1%) noted that some students dominate while others are passive in the discussion. Overall positive perception on effectiveness of PBL on students' learning was obtained in 79 (68.7%) of respondents and the highest agreement was observed among the second year students (93.5%).

No abstract

An overlooked endemic zoonosis in Africa, monkeypox infection, which has spread to multiple non-endemic countries since early May 2022, was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization on July 23, 2022. As of August 8, 2022, over 28,000 confirmed and probable monkeypox cases were reported globally, including 6 deaths from the African continent and 4 deaths from the non-endemic regions. Although the current outbreak mostly belongs to the West African clade, which has a lower-case fatality ratio of <1%, there is limited data among immune-weakened individuals infected with monkeypox. It is still unknown if pregnant people are more susceptible to monkeypox. In addition, it is unclear whether having monkeypox increases the risk of birth defects. This commentary addresses reported cases of monkeypox infection in pregnancy and the possible maternal and fetal outcomes, including congenital monkeypox, miscarriage, or stillbirth. Factors behind the escalating global monkeypox outbreak, as well as the prevention and control of monkeypox via the One Health approach, are discussed to shed light on curbing the continuous emergence of monkeypox.   Copyright © 2022 Najimudeen et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0.

Female migrant workers are susceptible for economic exploitation, physical violence and sexual abuse. They are at risks of sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy, illegal termination of pregnancy and related problems. They also spread the diseases knowingly and unknowingly. There are about five millions registered and undocumented migration workers are in Malaysia. The Malaysian government is committed to stop the illegal trafficking of women and under aged girls. The health education programme and screening procedures are important to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.