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Operational research on infectious diseases of poverty in Myanmar

Guest edited by Kyaw Zin Thant, John Reeder and Xiao-Nong Zhou

An article collection in Infectious Diseases of Poverty.

IDP-TS-operational research

The global technical strategies for both malaria and tuberculosis control emphasize the importance of research. Operational research is of particular importance in improving the performance of national disease control programs. The Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) is a global partnership-based initiative led by the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) based at the World Health Organization. SORT IT supports countries to conduct operational research (OR) around their own priorities, build operational research capacity in their public health programs and make evidence-informed improvements in public health services. SORT IT leads trainees through the entire OR cycle from formulation of a research question, through protocol development and data analysis to the writing of a scientific paper for publication. SORT IT has been highlighted a good practice in research capacity-building by the ESSENCE initiative of funding agencies.

Starting in 2015, TDR supported a national SORT IT program in Myanmar led by the Ministry of Health’s Department for Medical Research. Training workshops were facilitated by teams of national researchers with the support of experienced SORT IT facilitators from organizations including the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (National Institute of Parasitic Diseases), the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Belgium), the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases and Médecins Sans Frontieres. This thematic collection from Infectious Disease of Poverty features the research outputs of the Myanmar national SORT IT Program 2015-16.

This collection of articles has not been sponsored and articles have undergone the journal’s standard peer-review process. The Guest Editors declare no competing interests.

  1. Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is endemic in Myanmar and targeted for elimination. To highlight the National Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (NPELF) progress between 2000 and 2014, this paper describes ...

    Authors: Ni Ni Aye, Zaw Lin, Khin Nan Lon, Nay Yi Yi Linn, Thet Wai Nwe, Khin Mon Mon, Kapa Ramaiah, Hannah Betts and Louise A. Kelly-Hope
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2018 7:56
  2. Myanmar lies in the Greater Mekong Subregion where there is artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria. As the artemisinin compound is the pillar of effective antimalarial therapies, containing the sprea...

    Authors: Thae Maung Maung, Tin Oo, Khin Thet Wai, Thaung Hlaing, Philip Owiti, Binay Kumar, Hemant Deepak Shewade, Rony Zachariah and Aung Thi
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2018 7:19
  3. Myanmar lies in the Greater Mekong sub-region of South-East Asia faced with the challenge of emerging resistance to artemisinin combination therapies (ACT). Migrant populations are more likely than others to s...

    Authors: Wint Phyo Than, Tin Oo, Khin Thet Wai, Aung Thi, Philip Owiti, Binay Kumar, Hemant Deepak Shewade and Rony Zachariah
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2017 6:138
  4. As part of the WHO End TB strategy, national tuberculosis (TB) programs increasingly aim to engage all private and public TB care providers. Engagement of communities, civil society organizations and public an...

    Authors: Thin Thin Nwe, Saw Saw, Le Le Win, Myo Myo Mon, Johan van Griensven, Shuisen Zhou, Palanivel Chinnakali, Safieh Shah, Saw Thein and Si Thu Aung
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2017 6:123
  5. Since 2005, the Myanmar National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) has been implementing active case finding (ACF) activities involving mobile teams in hard-to-reach areas. This study revealed the contribution of m...

    Authors: Ohnmar Myint, Saw Saw, Petros Isaakidis, Mohammed Khogali, Anthony Reid, Nguyen Binh Hoa, Thi Thi Kyaw, Ko Ko Zaw, Tin Mi Mi Khaing and Si Thu Aung
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2017 6:77
  6. This study examined evolving malaria profiles from January, 2010 to December, 2014 to evaluate achievements and challenges of implementing measures to prevent and control spread of artemisinin resistance in My...

    Authors: Thet Wai Nwe, Tin Oo, Khin Thet Wai, Shuisen Zhou, Johan van Griensven, Palanivel Chinnakali, Safieh Shah and Aung Thi
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2017 6:76
  7. It is estimated that the standard, passive case finding (PCF) strategy for detecting cases of tuberculosis (TB) in Myanmar has not been successful: 26% of cases are missing. Therefore, alternative strategies, ...

    Authors: Htet Myet Win Maung, Saw Saw, Petros Isaakidis, Mohammed Khogali, Anthony Reid, Nguyen Binh Hoa, Ko Ko Zaw, Saw Thein and Si Thu Aung
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2017 6:51
  8. National tuberculosis (TB) programs increasingly engage with international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), especially to provide TB care in complex settings where community involvement might be require...

    Authors: Kyaw Thu Soe, Saw Saw, Johan van Griensven, Shuisen Zhou, Le Win, Palanivel Chinnakali, Safieh Shah, Myo Myo Mon and Si Thu Aung
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2017 6:69
  9. International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) have been implementing community-based tuberculosis (TB) care (CBTBC) in Myanmar since 2011. Although the National TB Programme (NTP) ultimately plans to ta...

    Authors: Wai Wai Han, Saw Saw, Petros Isaakidis, Mohammed Khogali, Anthony Reid, Nguyen Hoa, Ko Ko Zaw and Si Thu Aung
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2017 6:59