Review: Myopia control strategies recommendations from the 2018 WHO/IAPB/BHVI Meeting on Myopia

2020 ◽  
pp. bjophthalmol-2019-315575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Ang ◽  
Judith L Flanagan ◽  
Chee Wai Wong ◽  
Andreas Müller ◽  
Amanda Davis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
National Level ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
International Agency ◽  
Major Public Health Problem ◽  
The Western Pacific ◽  
Myopia Control

Myopia is a major public health problem, particularly in East Asia. In this summary report, we present key findings and recommendations on strategies for myopia control discussed during the meeting jointly organised by the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and the Brien Holden Vision Institute. First, myopia prevalence was reported to be increasing, with up to 80% of junior school students with myopia in East Asia. However, common challenges in implementing myopia control strategies on a national level included lack of school screening programme, and paucity of accurate prevalence data. Second, there continues to be broad public misconception about myopia and myopia control, including lack of parental awareness and resistance to wearing spectacles. Third, best practices for myopia management were shared, and recommendations for policy implementation are presented in this review. Key recommendations from this meeting include increased public education to raise parent and teacher awareness; encouragement of increased outdoor time of 2–3 hours per day for schoolchildren—as a practical public health intervention that has been shown to potentially reduce onset and progression of myopia. Governments and non-governmental organisations are encouraged to collaborate, especially education and health ministries to develop national myopia prevention programme. Lastly, it is important to emphasise that the key recommendations, such as increasing outdoor time for schoolchildren, are specific for East Asian nations in the Western Pacific region and may not be entirely applicable for Western nations.

Japanese Advanced Meteorological Imager: an advanced GEO imager for Japan, East Asia, and the western Pacific

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffery J. Puschell ◽  
Howard A. Lowe ◽  
James W. Jeter ◽  
Steven M. Kus ◽  
David Gilman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
The Western Pacific

scholarly journals Winter-to-Spring Transition in East Asia: A Planetary-Scale Perspective of the South China Spring Rain Onset

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 3081-3096 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. H. LinHo ◽  
Xianglei Huang ◽  
Ngar-Cheung Lau
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
South China ◽  
Stationary Wave ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
Monsoon Circulation ◽  
Jet Stream ◽  
The South ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
The Western Pacific

Abstract Analysis of observations from 1979 to 2002 shows that the seasonal transition from winter to spring in East Asia is marked with a distinctive event—the onset of the south China spring rain (SCSR). In late February, the reduced thermal contrast between ocean and land leads to weakening of the Asian winter monsoon as well as the Siberian high and the Aleutian low. Meanwhile, convection over Australia and the western Pacific Maritime Continent is suppressed on the passage of the dry phase of a Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). In conjunction with the seasonal march of monsoon circulation in the Indonesian–Australian sector, this MJO passage weakens the local thermally direct cell in the East Asia–Australia sector. This development is further accompanied by a series of adjustments in both the tropics and midlatitudes. These changes include attenuation of the planetary stationary wave, considerable weakening of the westerly jet stream over much of the central Pacific adjacent to Japan, and reduction of baroclinicity near the East Asian trough. The influence of concurrent local processes in midlatitudes on the SCSR onset is also important. The weakened jet stream is associated with confinement of frontal activities to the coastal regions of East Asia as well as with rapid expansion of the subtropical Pacific high from the eastern Pacific to the western Pacific. A parallel analysis using output from an experiment with a GFDL-coupled GCM shows that the above sequence of circulation changes is well simulated in that model.

scholarly journals Regional event-based surveillance in WHO’s Western Pacific Region

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-19
Author(s):  
Christopher Lowbridge ◽  
May Chiew ◽  
Katherine Russel ◽  
Takuya Yamagishi ◽  
Babatunde Olowokure ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
World Health ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Western Pacific Region ◽  
Regional Health ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Health Events ◽  
Event Based ◽  
The Western Pacific

In the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Region, event-based surveillance has been conducted for more than a decade to rapidly detect and assess public health events. This report describes the establishment and evolution of the Western Pacific Region’s event-based surveillance system and presents an analysis of public health events in the Region. Between July 2008 and June 2017, a total of 2396 events were reported in the Western Pacific Region, an average of 266 events per year. Infectious diseases in humans and animals accounted for the largest proportion of events recorded during this period (73%, 1743 events). Maintaining and strengthening this well-established system is critical to support the rapid detection, assessment and response to public health events to sustain regional health security.

scholarly journals The prevalence of soil transmitted helminth infections in minority indigenous populations of South-East Asia and the Western Pacific Region: A systematic review and meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0009890
Author(s):  
Beth Gilmour ◽  
Kefyalew Addis Alene ◽  
Archie C. A. Clements
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Final Analysis ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Pooled Prevalence

Introduction Soil transmitted helminth (STH) infections cause one of the most prevalent diseases in man. STHs disproportionately impact socio-economically disadvantaged communities including minority indigenous populations. This systematic review aimed to quantify the prevalence of STH infection within minority indigenous populations of the South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions. Methods The systematic review was conducted in accordance with The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines following a published protocol. A random effects meta-analysis was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of STH infection, and meta-regression analysis was used to quantify associations with study characteristics. Where comparative data were available, sub-group analysis was conducted to evaluate the risk of STH infection in minority indigenous people relative to other population groups. The heterogeneity between studies was evaluated visually using Forest plots and was assessed quantitatively by the index of heterogeneity (I2) and Cochran Q-statistics. Results From 1,366 unique studies that were identified, 81 were included in the final analysis. The pooled prevalence of infection within minority indigenous populations was 61.4% (95% CI 50.8, 71.4) for overall STH infection; 32.3% (95% CI 25.7, 39.3) for Ascaris.lumbricoides; 43.6% (95% CI 32.6, 54.8) for Trichuris.trichiura; 19.9% (95% CI 15.7, 24.5) for hookworm and 6.3% (95% CI 3.2, 10.2) for Strongyloides.stercoralis. A significant increase in T. trichiura prevalence was observed over time. The stratified analysis showed that the prevalence of infection for STH overall and for each STH species were not significantly different in minority indigenous participants compared to other populations groups. Conclusion The prevalence of STH infection is high within minority indigenous populations across countries at very different levels of socio-economic development. The increasing prevalence of T. trichiura calls for the implementation of more effective therapies and control strategies.

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