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Precision public health using genomic sequencing is a new field that has gained interest from public health practitioners for prevention and control measures. This study aims to identify the various applications of genomic sequencing for the prevention of communicable diseases in public health practice. Articles containing relevant keywords were determined using a systematic search strategy applied in Medline, Scopus, and Springer electronic databases. Full text included in the study was retrieved and categorised. A total of 24 articles were included in the final review. The main themes regarding the application of genomic sequencing in the prevention of communicable disease that were found in the articles were describing transmission patterns, investigating outbreaks, diagnosing infection, developing and evaluating interventions including vaccines, outcomes response treatment, and monitoring antimicrobial resistance. In conclusion, genomic sequencing has the potential to enhance the prevention and control of communicable diseases globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Economic evaluations of vaccines are important to assist in the selection of the most costeffective vaccine. This scoping review aims to systematically explore and catalogue the methodologies and outcomes of economic evaluations of COVID-19 vaccines, with a focus on assessing their presence and representation in Arab countries. The review seeks to identify methodological diversity and potential research gaps to inform future studies and healthcare policy decisions in the region. Materials and Methods: The review methodology involved searching major databases for articles published in English from 2020 to 2023. Keywords used included "COVID-19 vaccine", "economic evaluation", "cost-effectiveness", and related terms. Studies were included if they performed any form of economic evaluation related to COVID-19 vaccines. Exclusion criteria were non-English articles and studies not employing economic evaluation methodologies. Result: The review included 29 studies with significant variability in methodology. Majority (n=15) of the studies were CUA, applied static models (n=13), used QALY as outcome measure (n=11), used short time horizon (< 1 year) (n=21), used healthcare perspective (n=13), conducted sensitivity analysis (n=29), direct medical costs were mostly vaccination costs and hospitalization (n=29), and considered indirect costs (n=8). Notably, none of these studies specifically addressed the Arab region. Conclusion: The diverse methodologies employed in the economic evaluations of COVID-19 vaccines suggests the necessity for standardization and consensus in research approaches to better compare outcomes and optimize vaccine distribution strategies globally. The absence of region specific economic evaluations in Arab countries underscores a critical gap in the literature. This review highlights the need for targeted economic research to support effective vaccine deployment and policymaking in the Arab world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Poor medication adherence is an essential contributor to Pakistan's high prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension. Relatively inexpensive technology-based mobile phone interventions can help with poor prescription adherence. This study is designed to determine the efficacy of a specially developed intervention in improving medication adherence and clinical outcomes in hypertension patients. Methods/design: A two-arm, parallel-design, six-month duration, single-blinded randomized controlled trial comprising an intervention, pre-test, and post-test evaluation is carried out among hypertensive patients registered at the Cardiology and Medical Outpatient Departments (OPDs) at a public hospital in Lahore, Pakistan. A total of 440 patients aged 18 years and older, diagnosed with hypertension in the last month but have poor adherence to anti-hypertensive and have access to a mobile phone, are randomized into either the intervention group (n=220) or the control group (n=220). The newly developed intervention, called the "Multi-Aid-Package," consists of seven items: written, voice, and graphics messages, animated video, educational material, and 24/7 help service. Standard care is provided to the control group. The Self-efficacy for Appropriate Medication Adherence Scale (SEAMS) is used to assess the changes in medication adherence and the number of prescribed pills taken for a given period. The secondary outcome is a change in systolic blood pressure. All assessments are done at baseline and 6-month follow-up. The analysis will be intention-to-treat. Conclusion: We hypothesize this mHealth technology intervention effectively improves medication adherence and reduces hypertension-related morbidity and mortality in a low- to middle-income country (LMIC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The utilisation of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is being fundamental in creating intelligent hospital. The realisation of data networking, emulation of human cognition in the analysis, interpretation, and comprehension in delivering clinical and nonclinical services is believed to improves overall healthcare services, patient satisfaction and satisfying the health workforce. The aim of this article is to describe the current applications of artificial intelligence in the healthcare services and gather available information and updates in the evolution of intelligent hospital. Also, this article will describe the working process of AIintegrated intelligent hospital looks like. Materials and Methods: Review of relevant literature from online databases such as EBSCO, Pub Med, Research Gate, Google Scholar, and Google search engine was done to collect the information. This review's selected information was taken from academic journals, thesis, official country reports, and news update using related keywords intelligent hospital, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, hospital management, and smart hospital. . Results and Conclusion: Integration of AI into healthcare services in the hospitals hence creating the intelligent hospitals, is the way to go. The benefits of having AI in intelligent hospitals seem to outweigh the disadvantages. Integration of technology and science in the healthcare delivery will reduce human-related error, improve patient satisfaction, assist healthcare personnel in achieving better health results, and provide a better, safe, and efficient healthcare services. It is highly recommended for healthcare professionals to be aware of and be up to date with the development of AI technology in the healthcare setting and the pursuit of creating and managing intelligent hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The policy process has five stages, namely, agenda-setting, formulation, legitimisation and adoption, implementation, and evaluation. Media is one of the actors in the policy cycle. In view of their reach and influence on wide range of people, media can play critical role throughout the policy-making process and influence it bidirectionally. This review aims to add to the body of knowledge on how media influences the different stages of policymaking process. Materials and Methods: Search engine which include Pubmed, Ebscohost, Researchgate, Science Direct and Google Scholar were searched using combination of keywords 'role of media' AND 'policy'. All English articles involving all type of mass media excluding social media were included in the review. Result: In agenda-setting stage, the media attention, issues framing, and investigative journalism greatly influence the politician behaviour, public's vote, and perception on the policy while in policy formulation, the media can act as reliable information provider, medium to channel expert opinion, advocator for policy option and as direct influence on policymakers. In policy legitimisation and adoption, the media indirectly affect policy making by influencing another actor's perception and behaviour. Finally, the media tend to focus on negative aspects in policy implementation, whereas in policy evaluation, media indirectly assess and debate of such policy effectiveness. Conclusion: Media does influence all the different stages of policy making either directly or indirectly. It can exert both positive or negative influence depending on the media stand and the stage of policy cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has tremendously caused significant health impacts leading to high load of ICU critical patients. Multiple Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission framework and triaging score have been adapted worldwide for admission of COVID-19 patients. The aim of this article is to review the COVID-19 ICU admission policy in five (5) countries, identify challenges and provide recommendations. Materials and Methods: Literature review was carried out through searching available literature from online databases such as EBSCO, PubMed, Research Gate, Google Scholar and Google search engine. The selected information used in this review is taken from any journal, article, report, thesis, national report, news update regarding the topic. Result: The ICU admission policy in 5 countries, namely South Africa, USA, UK, Hong Kong and Malaysia were reviewed. Different countries apply different guidelines to triage, prioritize and admit severe COVID-19 patients to ICU such as Color-coded Priority Scale in South Africa, Critical Care Triage Tool in USA, COVID-19 Critical Care Guideline in UK, COVID- 19 Critical Care Triage Tool in Hong Kong and ICU Admission Prioritization Criteria in Malaysia. The ICU admission decision-making is supported with multiple ICU scorings such as Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), Clinical Frailty score and National Early Warning score 2 (NEWS2). Conclusion: The COVID-19 ICU admission policies in these countries are well established and have been practised appropriately despite challenges faced by the ICU practitioners. All five selected national guidelines in this paper correspond to the WHO framework on the ICU admission policy. Ethical issues and legal supports on the ICU practitioners in ICU admission decision-making requires great attention form government and relevant policy stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health insurance is the primary mechanism that enables people to obtain health care services. There are three major types of health insurance involves private health insurance, social health insurance and community-based health insurance. Aims: This systematic review aims to identify the implication on equity after implementation of health insurance focusing on selected Asian countries. The review is based on the three dimensions of universal health coverage (UHC): population coverage, and service coverage and financial coverage. Materials and methods: A systematic search for articles was conducted form 4 search engines, Scopus, Science Direct, Proquest, and Google scholar. A total of 13 articles were selected after screenings and equity implications were concluded in three UHC dimensions based on equity index reported or equity improvement observed in time series studied. Result and discussion: All the three health insurance has different implication on equity between countries or within country. In terms of population coverage, SHI in Thailand showed an equitable coverage. Philippine also reported to have equitable population coverage in terms of geographical while in Vietnam, CBHI showed inequitable population coverage. The financial coverage has showed an inequity of CBHI in India, China, and Thailand. The inequity was also observed for SHI in Philippine, Vietnam and Philippines. More apparent is inequity in PHI for Malaysia and Philippines. The only equitable financial coverage reported was Thailand for its SHI. The final aspect is on service delivery coverage with equity has been observed in CBHI in China and SHI in Vietnam and Thailand. Conclusion: Social health insurance schemes can be further improved in addressing equity in all UHC aspects. CBHI of which showed some equitable measures for certain population subgroups, such as the poor, and formal workers can collectively be the way to go for SHI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Universal health coverage (UHC) indicators for monitoring the progress of effective service coverage for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are still lacking. This paper aims to prove the possibility of adapting Quality Performance Indicators (QPIs) as indicators for effective service coverage of NCDs in the context of UHC. Materials and Methods: By reviewing major literatures on UHC framework and indicators between the years 2012 and 2015, service coverage indicators criteria and effective coverage indicator criteria were compiled. Two QPIs: one on breast cancer and one on acute myocardial infarction from renowned sources were selected as examples and their fulfilment of the indicator criteria was analysed. Result: The findings demonstrated that the selected QPIs were able to fulfil the criteria for indicators to measure effective service coverage component of Universal Health Coverage. Conclusion: It is proposed that suitable QPIs be considered to be adapted as indicators for UHC monitoring for non-communicable diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Artificial intelligence use in healthcare is increasing over the years. The aim of this review is to determine the positive and negative implications of artificial intelligence in healthcare delivery in hospital settings. Methods: Literature search was done using keywords “artificial intelligence”, “hospital” and “implications” from databases of Scopus, Science Direct, Google scholar and PubMed. The literature search was limited to articles published in English, available in open access and articles that are able to be retrieved in full text format. Result: Artificial intelligence has positive influence on health care delivery especially in hospitals in terms of quality of care, efficiency and accuracy. On the other hand, artificial intelligence can also have negative implications in terms of ethical, privacy and dehumanization of care. Conclusion: In conclusion, the positive implication of artificial intelligence and the wide range opportunities for technological development exceed the negative aspect, especially when the negative aspects are addressed appropriately or avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Countries must employ the most efficient way to vaccinate their population with the COVID-19 vaccines, given the vaccines' low availability compared to its demand. This review aims to identify and compare the different COVID-19 vaccine delivery strategies employed internationally in the recent year based on the economic evaluation findings and subsequently to recommend the most cost-effective strategy among them., Material and Methods: A systematic review was conducted by examining online databases (Scopus, MEDLINE and Science Direct) to identify health economic evaluation studies of COVID-19 vaccines. Critical appraisal of studies was conducted using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS)., Results: A total of nine studies were selected for analysis. Results show two strategies that were cost-effective compared to its comparators: mass vaccination program compared to no vaccination and universal vaccination approach compared to a risk-stratified vaccination approach. Several other strategies were found to increase the cost-consequences in the COVID-19 vaccination program: higher vaccine effectiveness, higher vaccination pace, increased vaccination coverage, and vaccine prioritisation for an at-risk population. The study findings were restricted to analysis based on the current available data., Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccination policies should aim for increased vaccine production as well as a rapid and extensive vaccine delivery system to ensure the maximal value of vaccination strategies. These results can aid policymakers in opting for the most efficient approach to vaccinating the population during this COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemic.

Introduction: Healthcare workers (HCWs) were among the first to be fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. However, the antibody responses to the vaccines and potential decline among Malaysian HCW are still unclear. The objective of this study is to follow-up anti-S antibody levels among HCW vaccinated with mRNA vaccine (BTN162b2) and inactivated vaccine (CoronaVac)., Materials and Methods: Plasma samples were collected prevaccination, 2 weeks and 6 months post-vaccination and tested for total immunoglobulin levels using ELISA method., Results: A small percentage of HCW (2.2%, 15/677) had elevated anti-S antibody levels in their pre-vaccination plasma samples (median 20.4, IQR 5.8), indicating that they were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to vaccination. The mRNA vaccine significantly increased anti-S levels of both previously infected and uninfected individuals to saturation levels (median 21.88, IQR.0.88) at 2 weeks postsecond dose of the vaccine. At 6 months post-vaccination, the antibody levels appeared to be maintained among the recipients of the mRNA vaccine. However, at this time point, anti-S antibody levels were lower in individuals given inactivated vaccine (median 20.39, IQR 7.31, n=28), and interestingly, their antibody levels were similar to anti-S levels in pre-vaccination exposed individuals. Antibody levels were not different between the sexes., Conclusion: Anti-S levels differ in individuals given the different vaccines. While further study is required to determine the threshold level for protection against SARSCoV- 2, individuals with low antibody levels may be considered for boosters.

Introduction: This review aimed to summarise the trend of mammogram screening uptake published in local studies between years 2006 and 2015 among the Malaysian women aged 40 years and above, and identify the associated factors and barriers, as well as discuss limitations of the studies and research gaps., Methods: A systematic review was conducted on breast cancer screening studies among Malaysian women, published between January 2006 and December 2015. Online databases were searched using keywords: "mammogram", "mammography", "uptake", "breast cancer screening" and "Malaysia"., Results: Thirteen original articles were reviewed. The rate of mammography uptake ranged between 3.6% and 30.9% among the general population, and 80.3% among personnel of a tertiary hospital. Factors associated with mammogram screening were clinical breast examination, age, income, knowledge on breast cancer and mammogram, perceived susceptibility to breast cancer, ethnicity and education level. Barriers to mammogram screening were lack of knowledge, embarrassment, fear of cancer diagnosis, perception that breast screening was unnecessary, lack of coping skills and pain during procedure. However, almost all of the studies could not be generalised beyond the study sample because of the limited number of sites and respondents; and most data were self-reported with no objective measures of the responses., Conclusion: Mammogram screening uptake among women in selected communities were generally low. Further studies involving the general population are essential. Future studies should also explore the availability, affordability and accessibility of this service especially in the pursuit of achieving universal health coverage in breast cancer management.