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A well-developed healthcare system, decent access to clean water and sanitation, and programmes to eliminate poverty and build modern infrastructure are essential components to create healthier Malaysia's population. Non-communicable diseases currently account for most of the mortality and morbidity, although communicable diseases such as dengue fever, avian flu and covid-19 still pose a threat. The World Health Organization (WHO) identified COVID-19 is a rare pneumonia disease that originated in Wuhan, on January 12, 2020, before it became an outbreak in all countries including Malaysia. The requirement of a precise mapping and Cartography for the accurate disease mapping and data management are crucial due to a precise map gives higher resolution of the data and for more specific data analysis, interpretation and decision making process. In Malaysia, there no specific report on precise mapping for health applications, and it is therefore this paper is to identify the potential criteria and factors needed for precise health mapping applications. A precise health mapping is essential to create a precise risk map towards the surveillance and signal detection, predicting future risk, targeted interventions, and understanding disease phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Water-associated Disease Index (WADI) was developed to identify and visualize vulnerability to different water-associated diseases by integrating a range of social and biophysical determinants in map format. In this study vulnerability is used to encompass conditions of exposure, susceptibility, and differential coping capacity to a water-associated health hazard. By assessing these conditions, the tool is designed to provide stakeholders with an integrated and long-term understanding of subnational vulnerabilities to water-associated disease and contribute to intervention strategies to reduce the burden of illness. The objective of this paper is to describe and validate the WADI tool by applying it to dengue. A systemic ecohealth framework that considers links between people, the environment and health was applied to identify secondary datasets, populating the index with components including climate conditions, land cover, education status and water use practices. Data were aggregated to create composite indicators of exposure and of susceptibility in a Geographic Information System (GIS). These indicators were weighted by their contribution to dengue vulnerability, and the output consisted of an overall index visualized in map format. The WADI was validated in this Malaysia case study, demonstrating a significant association with dengue rates at a sub-national level, and illustrating a range of factors that drive vulnerability to the disease within the country. The index output indicated high vulnerability to dengue in urban areas, especially in the capital Kuala Lumpur and surrounding region. However, in other regions, vulnerability to dengue varied throughout the year due to the influence of seasonal climate conditions, such as monsoon patterns. The WADI tool complements early warning models for water-associated disease by providing upstream information for planning prevention and control approaches, which increasingly require a comprehensive and geographically broad understanding of vulnerability for implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article brings together a compilation of poems, short stories and novels written by Malaysian Indian writers from 1940 to 2018. These verse and prose forms collected here were all written in English within the last 80 years. In fact, in the contemporary Malaysian literary scene, the number of works by Malaysian Indian writers writing in English, has increased compared to the previous volumes which were primarily dominated by writers such as Cecil Rajendra, K.S. Maniam and M. Shanmughalingam. It is interesting to note that the interest of writing poetry and prose among the younger Malaysian Indian writers is on the rise with publications from younger poets and writers such as Paul GnanaSelvam and Cheryl Ann Fernando. In Malaysia, poetry and prose written by Malaysian Indian writers in English is diversifying with many promising new talents. Departing from the Malaysian Indian diaspora, the emerging themes of these lesser-known writers are more liberal. As such, the main aim of this article is to map out the cartography of Malaysian Indian works in these three genres; poem, short story and novel, and identify the main thematic concerns in the writings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]