Public Health Commons^™

Communities, Birth Attendants And Health Facilities: A Continuum Of Emergency Maternal And Newborn Care (The Global Network's Emonc Trial), Omrana Pasha, Robert L. Goldenberg, Elizabeth M. Mcclure, Sarah Saleem, Shivaprasad S. Goudar, Fernando Althabe, Archana Patel, Fabian Esamai, Ana Garces, Elwyn Chomba, Manolo Mazariegos, Bhala Kodkany, Jose M. Belizan, Richard J. Derman, Patricia L. Hibberd, Waldemar A. Carlo, Edward A. Liechty, K. Michael Hambidge, Pierre Buekens, Dennis Wallace, Lisa Howard-Grabman, Suzanne Stalls, Marion Koso-Thomas, Alan H. Jobe, Linda L. Wright

Community Health Sciences

Background: Maternal and newborn mortality rates remain unacceptably high, especially where the majority of births occur in home settings or in facilities with inadequate resources. The introduction of emergency obstetric and newborn care services has been proposed by several organizations in order to improve pregnancy outcomes. However, the effectiveness of emergency obstetric and neonatal care services has never been proven. Also unproven is the effectiveness of community mobilization and community birth attendant training to improve pregnancy outcomes. Methods/Design: We have developed a cluster-randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a comprehensive intervention of community mobilization, birth attendant training and …

Screening Of Hepatitis B And C Among People Visiting General Practice Clinics In A Rural District Of Sindh, Pakistan., Ameet Kumar, Saima Lalani, Asad Ali Khan Afridi, Ali Khan Khuwaja

Community Health Sciences

BACKGROUND:

Hepatitis B (HB), Hepatitis C (HC) and their risk factors are amongst the major health problems in developing countries including Pakistan. This study aimed to screen for HB and HC among people who visited General Practice clinics and also to identify the differences of screening positive cases by age and sex.

METHODS:

This was a retrospective study conducted in Tando Muhammad Khan city, one of the rural districts of Sindh. All together we reviewed 5989 laboratory reports of people for hepatitis B and C on consecutive basis from two laboratories. A pre-designed and structured perform was used to collect …

Predictors Of Obesity Among Post Graduate Trainee Doctors Working In A Tertiary Care Hospital Of Public Sector In Karachi, Pakistan, Sajid Mahmood, Muhammad Kazim Rahim Najjad, Nasir Ali, Naeem Yousuf, Yasir Hamid

Community Health Sciences

Objectives: To identify the predictors of obesity among post graduate trainee doctors working in a tertiary care hospital of public sector at Karachi, Pakistan.
Methods: A cross sectional analytical study was conducted at one of the tertiary care hospitals of public sector in Karachi. Information was collected from 117 post graduate trainee doctors via pre-tested self administered questionnaire and standard tools were used for height and weight measurement. Obesity was defined as body mass index (BMI) > or =23 by using South Asian cut-off points. SPSS version 16 was used for data analysis, and logistic regression technique was applied to come …

Situational Analysis Of Household Energy And Biomass Use And Associated Health Burden Of Indoor Air Pollution And Mitigation Efforts In Pakistan, Zafar Fatmi, Asma Rahman, Ambreen Kazi, Muhammad Masood Kadir, Nalini Sathiakumar

Community Health Sciences

Biomass fuel burning leads to high levels of suspended particulate matter and hazardous chemicals in the indoor environment in countries where it is in common use, contributing significantly to indoor air pollution (IAP). A situational analysis of household energy and biomass use and associated health effects of IAP was conducted by reviewing published and un-published literature about the situation in Pakistan. In addition to attempt to quantify the burden of ill health due to IAP, this paper also appraises the mitigation measures undertaken to avert the problem in Pakistan. Unfortunately, IAP is still not a recognized environmental hazard in Pakistan …

Contracting Of Primary Health Care Services In Pakistan: Is Up-Scaling A Pragmatic Thinking, Babar Shaikh, F. Rabbani, Najibullah Safi, Zia Dawar

Community Health Sciences

Quite often, public health care systems in developing countries are struggling because of incompetence and a lack of provider responsiveness to the needs of consumers. On the contrary, the private sector dominates the system of health provision. In recent years, contracting has been experimented as an approach to ensure delivery of comprehensive public health services in an efficient, effective, superior and fair manner and has generally thrived well. The state's healthcare system in Pakistan has suffered a lot, owing to structural fragmentation, resource scarcity, inefficiency and lack of functional specificity, gender insensitivity and inaccessibility. However, partnering with the private sector …

A Multicentre Matched Case Control Study Of Risk Factors For Preeclampsia In Healthy Women In Pakistan., Uzma Shamsi, Juanita Hatcher, Azra Shamsi, Nadeem Zuberi, Zeeshan Qadri, Sarah Saleem

Community Health Sciences

Background: Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality world-wide. The risk for developing preeclampsia varies depending on the underlying mechanism. Because the disorder is heterogeneous, the pathogenesis can differ in women with various risk factors. Understanding these mechanisms of disease responsible for preeclampsia as well as risk assessment is still a major challenge. The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors associated with preeclampsia, in healthy women in maternity hospitals of Karachi and Rawalpindi. Methods: We conducted a hospital based matched case-control study to assess the factors associated with preeclampsia …

Father's Support And Literacy--Factors Associated With Child Mortality In Gambat, Sindh-Pakistan, Ajmal Agha, Fozia Ajmal, Azam Iqbal, Franklin White

Community Health Sciences

Objectives: To determine Under Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) in Gambat and to identify causes of and factors associated with it.
Methods: The study was conducted in taluka Gambat of Sindh, Pakistan from December 2002 to August 2003. The sample of at least 510 mothers was needed to capture expected 1020 live births. We interviewed mothers to elicit information about live births in the past five years, under-five mortality and its cause. Additionally, the mothers were also asked about their mobility and availability of husband's support in child's rearing, other than economic support. Approval was sought from Aga Khan University's Ethical …