Ministry of Health and Sports

Strategies for the continuum of care (CoC) for mothers and newborns have yet to be adequately evaluated in Myanmar. Similarly, the feasibility of integrating non-communicable diseases (NCDs) education into routine maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) services remains unexamined. This study assessed the effect of an intervention package on achieving the CoC for mothers and their knowledge of NCDs in Myanmar. In three townships (Pantanaw, Wakema and Ingapu) of Myanmar, we randomly allocated clusters (primary health centres) to the intervention group (n=16) and the control group (n=16). The intervention group received a package, including a one-page CoC card and four health education sessions on NCDs from pregnancy to postpartum. The control group received routine services. We enrolled pregnant women who received their first ANC visit between 12 and 20 weeks of gestation during the trial enrolment period. The outcomes were (1) the CoC completion among women with babies born alive (measured by the proportion of mothers who received ANC at least four times, delivered with a skilled birth attendant, and received postnatal care four times) and (2) their NCD knowledge (measured by a test on NCDs in general, hypertension, diabetes, anaemia and nutrition). The analysis was conducted following the intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) principles. A mixed-effect logistic regression was used to assess the effect of the CoC card, and a generalised estimation equation was used to assess the effect of health education. A total of 630 pregnant women participated at the baseline. The intervention group was more likely to complete CoC, with adjusted odds ratios (AOR) 6.8 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.3-20.4) in the ITT analysis and AOR 7.0 (95% CI 2.3-21.6) in the PP analysis (both p = 0.001). NCD knowledge scores also improved in the intervention group by 2.2 points in the ITT and 3.5 points in the PP analyses (p = 0.010 and p < 0.001, respectively). The intervention package enhanced the CoC completion of mothers and their NCD knowledge. Given the success of this intervention, future efforts that prioritise integrating health education for NCDs into routine MCH services are warranted into routine MCH services at the primary healthcare level in Myanmar and similar LMIC settings. NCT03145155. Registered on April 20, 2017

Protocol (2023): https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD015234.

BackgroundRecent epidemiological data indicate that 30–50% of all malaria infections are asymptomatic, with parasite densities below the limit of detection of standard diagnostic tests. A highly sensitive rapid diagnostic test (hsRDT) was developed to detect these low-density Plasmodium falciparum infections. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of both hsRDTs and conventional RDTs (cRDT) in reactive case detection (RACD) activities among individuals (contacts) living and/or working in proximity to an “index case” in Ann Township in Rakhine State, Myanmar.MethodsThis prospective community-based RACD study was conducted in 2017–2018 among residents aged at least five years old in 50 villages of Ann Township. We assessed the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of both a hsRDT (NxTek™ Eliminate Malaria Ag P.f) and a cRDT (SD Malaria Ag P.f/P.v) using an ultra-sensitive polymerase chain reaction (usPCR) diagnostic assay as the gold standard.ResultsA total of 1,990 participants, all contacts of 51 index P. falciparum cases, were recruited. Among them, 28 (1.4%) tested positive by cRDT, 78 (3.9%) by hsRDT, and 171 (8.6%) by usPCR for P. falciparum mono-infection. The sensitivity and specificity of the hsRDT were 27.9% (95% CI 18.2–39.6%) and 98.8% (95% CI 98.2–99.4%), respectively, while the sensitivity and specificity of the cRDT were 13.7% (95% CI 7.6–20.7%) and 100% (95% CI 100–100%), respectively. The differences in sensitivity and specificity between hsRDT and cRDT were statistically significant (p < 0.01 for both).ConclusionsAlthough hsRDTs identified more infected contacts than cRDTs during reactive case detection, they have low overall sensitivity compared to usPCR. In resource-limited settings, such as Myanmar, the use of hsRDTs in RACD should be guided by careful consideration of their field feasibility and cost-effectiveness to support malaria elimination efforts.(285 words).Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12936-025-05699-7.

Teachers and students often employ the use of intrasentential code-switching while teaching Information Technology (IT) and other subjects in universities and colleges. Myanmar automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems still stumble on code-switching because switched utterances blur language borders, mix pronunciations, and broaden word lists-especially when English terms slip through Myanmar sounds. These mismatches push up word-error rates and cause many mixed-language phrases to be misunderstood. This paper presents the MEASR dataset, a spontaneous speech dataset featuring Myanmar-English intra-sentential code-switching collected from real online IT teaching sessions. It addresses the challenges code-switching poses to Myanmar ASR systems - such as language boundary confusion, pronunciation mixing, and vocabulary expansion-which conventional monolingual models struggle with. The MEASR dataset includes around 10 hours of speech recorded at 16 kHz, mono channel, and 16-bit resolution. The paper details the dataset's design and provides an analysis to support improved code-switching in automatic speech recognition (CS-ASR) through bilingual training, pronunciation adaptation, and language identification.

To determine whether trachoma elimination thresholds have been met in Myanmar, surveys were undertaken in 2019 to estimate the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in children ages 1-9y and the prevalence of trachomatous trichiasis (TT) unknown to the health system in adults ≥15y of age. Surveys were conducted in 14 townships (evaluation units [EUs]) that were considered formerly endemic for trachoma. A two-stage cluster survey design was applied, whereby 30 villages and 30 households per village were sampled. Consenting eligible participants ≥1y of age were examined for trachoma using the World Health Organization (WHO) simplified trachoma grading system. A total of 12 594 households were surveyed, with a total of 5901 children ages 1-9y and 31097 people ≥15y of age examined. In all 14 EUs, the prevalences of TF and TT unknown to the health system were below the elimination thresholds of <5% and <0.2%, respectively. Surveys showed that trachoma was no longer a public health problem in Myanmar and trachoma elimination thresholds had been attained. Partly on the basis of these data, in September 2020, Myanmar was validated by WHO as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem.

Objective For evaluation of hypertension care from a community perspective, this study aimed to identify the determinants of awareness, treatment and control of hypertension among the ≥40 years hypertensive population in Myanmar. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Pyin Oo Lwin Township, Myanmar, in 2023. Using multistage sampling, hypertensive individuals aged ≥40 years were recruited. Of 1001 participants screened, 386 were identified as hypertensive. A hypertension care cascade analysis was performed, and separate multivariable logistic regression models were developed at each stage—awareness, treatment and control—to identify associated factors. Awareness was defined as prior knowledge of having hypertension diagnosed by any health provider; treatment as use of any antihypertensive medication within the past 30 days; and control of hypertension as blood pressure &lt;140/90 mm Hg based on the average of two readings among those on treatment. Results Of 386 hypertensive study participants, the prevalence of awareness, treatment and control of hypertension was 79.3%, 61.1% and 23.3%. Determinants of awareness of hypertension were gender, family history of hypertension, monthly family income, social or financial support, beliefs about health consequences of hypertension, utilisation of public primary healthcare (PHC) facilities, comorbidities and perceived expertise of providers. For treatment, determinants were age, gender, monthly family income, comorbidities, awareness of available hypertension services and trust in providers. Determinants of controlled hypertension were gender, ethnicity and presence of nearby public PHC health facilities. Conclusion Along the care continuum, sociodemographic factors and patient-related factors are crucial for hypertension awareness, before individuals enter the health system for care. However, after diagnosis, health system factors become the primary determinants of treatment and hypertension control. Therefore, the health system should recognise these determinants, address gaps in hypertension care to prevent major drop-offs in the care cascade and ensure the sustainability of hypertension management in PHC settings.

Access to information is crucial for the enforcement of judiciary in a tax administration. In Asia, while it is highly likely that some countries are advanced in this area, some are seemingly still left behind far away. Therefore, this study explores their weaknesses and strengths by comparing one of the less developed legislations (Myanmar) with the advanced one (Republic of Korea), in this area. The study delves into their upholding legislation systems of taxation through the lens of inter-agency information or taxation data exchanging mechanisms, makes a comparative analysis and proposes recommendations to energize the ineffectual mechanisms of the effete legislation. Moreover, the study aims to contribute as the initiative leading to “a whole of government approach” in Myanmar.

IntroductionIn Myanmar, there are significant disparities in the delivery of immunisation services and barriers to service accessibility, particularly in border regions, conflict-affected areas, physically and geographically hard-to-reach areas, urban slums and migratory populations. The study aimed to explore the predictors for complete immunisation among 18-month to 24-month-old children in the urban slum area of Hlaingthayar Township, Yangon Region, Myanmar.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted from 21 to 25 July 2018. A total of 298 mothers of 18-month to 24-month-old children were recruited from the urban slum areas under five randomly selected wards by applying the cluster sampling method. Multiple binary logistic regression was performed to explore the predictors for complete immunisation. A significance level of 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsOut of a total of 298 children, 120 (40.3%) children were completely immunised, and the immunisation coverages ranged from 52.7% for the second dose of measles-rubella vaccine to 81.9% for the first dose of oral polio vaccine. Multivariate logistic regression model revealed that mothers having university and above education (AOR=2.65, 95% CI 1.07 to 6.56), mothers with permanent residency (AOR=2.19, 95% CI 1.16 to 4.15), primiparous mothers (AOR=1.76, 95% CI 1.05 to 2.95), mothers with medium knowledge (AOR=2.38, 95% CI 1.07 to 5.30) and high knowledge about childhood immunisation (AOR=5.89, 95% CI 2.23 to 15.60), and mothers with positive perception of childhood immunisation (AOR=2.26, 95% CI 1.33 to 3.85) were the significant predictors for complete immunisation among children.ConclusionThe proportion of complete immunisation was low, and associated with maternal education, residency, parity, knowledge and perception of childhood immunisation. Having a comprehensive understanding of these predictors will facilitate the government and other relevant stakeholders to establish effective strategies promoting access to immunisation services among the urban slum communities in Myanmar.

Background: Increased work stress, decreased job satisfaction and increased turnover intention impair the quality of healthcare services. This study aimed to determine the current status of turnover intention, to assess the effects of work stress, workplace violence, and job satisfaction on turnover intention, and examine the mediation role of job satisfaction between associated factors and turnover intention. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in 2023. A total of 189 midwives (MW) and 205 public health supervisors (PHS II) participated. The relationships between work stress, workplace violence, job satisfaction on turnover intention were assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Path analysis was performed to study the mediation role of job satisfaction. Results: Among the participants, (60.2%) had a high level of turnover intention, (7.4%) experienced high work stress and (23.9%) were dissatisfied with their jobs. Ninety-nine participants (25.13%) had been exposed to any type of workplace violence (physical, verbal, bullying or sexual harassment). Work stress was significantly positively correlated with turnover intention (r=0.4), while workplace violence had no significant correlation (r=0.006). Job satisfaction was significantly negatively correlated with turnover intention (r=-0.530). Job satisfaction had mediation role between work stress and turnover intention, but it had no mediation role between workplace violence and turnover intention. Conclusions: High turnover intention among participants is significantly associated with work stress and job satisfaction. An urgent and effective strategy is required to retain them.