'Majority of liver cancer patients are men'
Kuala Terengganu: Majority of the 2.5 million Malaysians detected with liver cancer are men, Malaysian Liver Foundation president, Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said today.
He said Sabah and Sarawak topped the list for hepatitis B in the country and attributed it to, among others, the influx of foreigners in both the states.
Kelantan, he said, recorded the highest number of cases for hepatitis A.
"Hepatitis B can be transmitted from an infected mother to her child during the birthing process, sharing of drug injection needles or for blood transfusion," he added.
He was speaking to reporters after the opening of a hepatitis awareness campaign by the Sultanah of Terengganu, Sultanah Nur Zahirah, at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) here today.
Ismail said the foundation was tracing hepatitis patients in the country to provide them with necessary assistance and counselling.
Hopefully the Malaysian Liver Foundation can help trace the hepatitis patients to give them medical assistance they needed.
BalasPadamThe risk factors for developing HBV infection include working in a healthcare setting, transfusions, and dialysis, acupuncture, tattooing, extended overseas travel and residence in an institution.
BalasPadamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_B
kementerian kesihatan kena ambil tindakan untuk mengawal penularan penyakit ini.
BalasPadamMemang hebatlah Sabah ni. semuanya top.huhu
BalasPadamSemua ini harus diambil perhatian oleh kementerian kesihatan. Yang pasti kementerian akan berusaha menyelesaikan masalah tersebut.
BalasPadambertambah lagi beban kementerian kesihatan di negeri ini.. buatlah sesuatu untuk mengurangkan kes jangkitan atau apa sahaja jenis penyakit di negeri ini..
BalasPadamMalaysia is a country with the intermediate burden of tuberculosis (TB).
BalasPadamTB is still a public-health problem in Sabah, one of the two states in East Malaysia. In 2007, the state of Sabah contributed slightly more than 3,000 of 16,129 new and relapse cases reported in the country.
BalasPadamIt has a notification rate of two and a half times that of the country's.
BalasPadamVery few studies on TB have been conducted in Sabah, and there is little documentation on the perceptions of TB patients and the community about TB, healthcare-seeking behaviour, and impact of TB on the people of Sabah.
BalasPadamA qualitative study was conducted in 2006 in seven districts in Sabah to assess the knowledge and perceptions of TB patients and the community about TB, also to know the experiences of healthcare services, and to examine the impact of TB on patients and families.
BalasPadamPurposive sampling identified 27 TB patients and 20 relatives and community members who were interviewed using a set of questions on knowledge, perceptions about TB, healthcare-seeking behaviour, and impact of TB.
BalasPadamA further 11 health staff attended informal discussions and feedback sessions. Most interviews were taped and later translated.
BalasPadamData were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Ninety-six percent of the respondents did not know the cause of TB.
BalasPadamAlthough the germ theory was not well-known, 98% of the respondents believed that TB was infectious.
BalasPadamOther forms of treatment, such as traditional medicine, were sought if modern medicine failed to cure the disease.
BalasPadamOther forms of treatment, such as traditional medicine, were sought if modern medicine failed to cure the disease.
BalasPadamOther forms of treatment, such as traditional medicine, were sought if modern medicine failed to cure the disease.
BalasPadamOther forms of treatment, such as traditional medicine, were sought if modern medicine failed to cure the disease.
BalasPadamTB was still a stigmatizing disease, and the expression of this was in both perceived and enacted ways. TB also affected the patients in various aspects of their lives, such as psychosocial, physical, financial and life practices.
BalasPadamPatients who were farmers complained that they did not recover fully from their disease and were not, thus, able to continue with their previous work.
BalasPadamPatients changed their life practices, such as not sharing their utensils, had a separate sleeping area, and practised social distancing.
BalasPadamOn the other hand, most health workers were unaware of the effects of TB on their patients and that knowledge of their patients on TB was inadequate.
BalasPadamThere is a need to understand the reasons for the misconceptions about TB and to address the lack of knowledge on TB through health education.
BalasPadamPatients need to recognize the symptoms of TB early so that prompt treatment can be initiated, and patients need to be convinced of its curability.
BalasPadam