Perceptions of climate change and associated health impacts among communities in Johor River Basin, Malaysia

INTRODUCTION: As climate change is threatening every region of the world, extreme weather events resultant of global warming is occurring at increasing rate and scale in Malaysia. Weather-related disasters such as flood and haze pose critical challenges to the infrastructure and raise public health concerns in the country, especially when main economic sectors rely heavily on climate variability. Public perception on environmental issues is crucial for development of pro-environmental policies. Among studies conducted to understand public awareness regarding global warming, reports of perception on the health impacts were very limited. Taking this limitation into account, this study was designed to examine the perception on the health impacts of climate change among the diverse communities living in the Johor River Basin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted through cloud-data-based digital questionnaires completed by randomly selected residents in the Johor River Basin (n=647). Data was analysed with descriptive statistics using SPSS 27 (IBM\uae) Software. Comparisons between indigenous and non-indigenous communities were performed using Chi square analysis. RESULTS: Respondents in this study consisted of indigenous people (n=79) and non-indigenous people (n=568). Indigenous respondents generally perceived more frequent occurrence of extreme weather events in the next 20 years, even for the phenomena unfamiliar in Malaysian settings. All respondents showed similar concerns for health impacts of global warming, although the non-indigenous respondents perceived the risk further into the future (25 years) compared to the indigenous respondents who perceived current or imminent (<10 years) risks. Intense concerns for self, children, family members and community were shown by nearly all indigenous respondents (97-99%), while the non-indigenous people in this study expressed stronger concerns at country level and for future generations. During the last haze episode, most indigenous respondents (85%) did not notice any change in air quality nor discomfort among family members, in contrast 70% of the nonindigenous respondents claimed to have suffered from breathing problems themselves as well as others in the family. All respondents were concerned about air quality in their surroundings, indigenous people were concerned for the near future (<10 years), and non-indigenous people were concerned for the next 25 years. CONCLUSION: In this study, respondents were generally concerned about the health impacts of unimpeded global warming. There was significant difference in perceptions between indigenous and non-indigenous respondents. The findings were useful, complemented with further studies, to improve understanding of public awareness and to help develop relevant education programmes accessible for wider audience

Factors Associated With Access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Services in Communities Along Siem Reap River, Cambodia

\ua9 2025 The Authors.Background: Access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are essential rights that impact individual and community health. The Siem Reap River is a vital water source in Cambodia for domestic, agricultural, and industrial use. However, limited local data and resources in the region exacerbate the challenge of providing adequate WASH services. This study aimed to evaluate WASH provision for communities living near the Siem Reap River and identify associated factors. Method: A cross-sectional study in April 2023 across four Siem Reap River villages used purposive sampling to select 120 respondents from diverse backgrounds. Data were gathered through face-to-face electronic questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests assessed demographic factors and WASH access. Results: Residential status significantly affected latrine emptying (p < 0.001) and handwashing facility location (p < 0.05). Education, residential status, and income influenced drinking water sources and sanitation facilities (p < 0.001, p < 0.05). Water insufficiency was tied to income and household size (p < 0.05), and residency length impacted sanitation access (p < 0.05). Conclusion: WASH provision in local communities is closely tied to demographic factors, highlighting key areas for improvement in service delivery

Towards an Integrated Approach to Improve the Understanding of the Relationships Between Water-Borne Infections and Health Outcomes: Using Malaysia as a Detailed Case Study

Copyright \ua9 2022 Ho, Lavinya, Kay, Lee, Razmi, Walsh, Goodson and Eswaran. As in many low- and middle-income countries around the world, thousands of local communities in Southeast Asia rely on river water to sustain their livelihoods. However, poor water quality threatens the health of both humans and ecosystems. The aim of this review was to examine the available literature to investigate how health outcomes in Malaysia have been studied and reported as directly attributable to human infections from river water. Computer-aided searches from 10 electronic databases were undertaken, with searches limited to the English language and publication dates since January 2010. The literature search revealed that the predominant river water infections identified in Malaysia were bacterial (coliforms, Salmonella spp., typhoid, leptospirosis, melioidosis), viral (including dengue, hepatitis, enterovirus), parasitic infections including amoebiasis, giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis, helminth infections, Blastocystis infections and sarcocystosis. No studies were found that have attempted to evaluate the impact of water related infection on human health longitudinally. Moreover, the possibility of integrated water governance systems that could reduce infection and improve water quality, particularly for marginalized groups have not been discussed or studied. Several cross-sectional studies identified infections at a point in time, but large longitudinal data sets of water infection parameters and how they influence human health outcomes have not been reported. Using Malaysia as a demonstration case study, we suggest a number of recommendations based on using a systems approach to tackle the challenges involved in data collection and integration, which is central to the understanding, strategic planning and management of water-borne infections