Globally, the minority indigenous peoples have a lower health status when compared with national populations. The Orang Asli who are indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia, also poses a significant challenge towards the handling of diseases. The present study sought to synthesise a coherent explanation of health-seeking behaviour among Orang Asli using a mixed-method research approach. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 324 adult Orang Asli living in the rural district of Jelebu, in the Peninsular Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan who conformed to the inclusion criteria. Then, 16 participants were interviewed to obtain an in-depth insight regarding their health-seeking behaviour. The findings showed that the majority of the Orang Asli utilized modern healthcare facilities and the respondents reported that the accessibility, services and medicines provided by the government were excellent. Meanwhile, 40.7% of the respondents relied on both traditional and modern treatments. The key determinants of the modern health-seeking behaviours among the Orang Asli in this study were satisfaction on modern health, barriers in getting health services, acceptance and attitude, and traditional medicine utilisation. Government, institutions and healthcare facilities have a role in ensuring that the vulnerable Orang Asli population is not left behind in receiving essential information on diseases associated with chronic and infectious diseases, including the current COVID-19 pandemic, as their action of seeking treatment remains complex and multi-layered.

Tendon transfers for radial nerve palsy is a common operation with good results. We did a retrospective study on twenty patients with radial nerve palsy who underwent tendon transfer surgery and recovered between January 2008 and December 2012. Outcomes measured were motor power of wrist extension, finger extension, grip strength and DASH scores. There was significant improvement of motor power of wrist and finger extension between the preoperative period and three months post-operatively, between the pre operative period and six months post operatively and between three and six months postoperatively (p = 0.0005). Grip strength improved significantly as well between preoperative, three and six months postoperatively (p = 0.0005). DASH scores reflecting patient satisfaction at six months postoperatively showed only mild or moderate difficulty of function.

Objective: To investigate the antibacterial activities of crude ethanol extracts of 12 Philippine medicinal plants. Methods: Crude ethanol extracts from 12 Philippine medicinal plants were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and metallo-β-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii. Results: The leaf extracts of Psidium guajava, Phyllanthus niruri, Ehretia microphylla and Piper betle (P. betle) showed antibacterial activity against the Gram-positive methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus. P. betle showed the highest antibacterial activity for these bacteria in the disk diffusion (16-33 mm inhibition diameter), minimum inhibitory concentration (19-156 μg/mL) and minimum bactericidal concentration (312 μg/mL) assays. P. betle leaf extracts only showed remarkable antibacterial activity for all the Gram-negative multidrug-resistant bacteria (extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and metallo-c-lactamase-producing) in the disk diffusion (17-21 mm inhibition diameter), minimum inhibitory concentration (312-625 μg/mL) and minimum bactericidal concentration (312-625 μg/mL) assays. Conclusions: P. betle had the greatest potential value against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive multidrug-resistant bacteria. Favorable antagonistic activities were also exhibited by the ethanol extracts of Psidium guajava, Phyllanthus niruri and Ehretia microphylla.