Barriers to Performing Essential Surgery at First-Level Hospitals in Pakistan: A Mixed Methods Study.

Introduction: There are numerous reasons for underutilization of the public health sector for surgery in Pakistan. This results in patients being diverted to private hospitals or tertiary care centers in urban areas. Diversions overburden the hospitals and significantly increase out-of-pocket costs for the patients.

Exact solutions of (1 + 1)-dimensional integro-differential Ito, KP hierarchy, CBS, MCBS and modified KdV-CBS equations.

The present study computes the Lie symmetries and exact solutions of some problems modeled by nonlinear partial differential equations. The (1 + 1)-dimensional integro-differential Ito, the first integro-differential KP hierarchy, the Calogero-Bogoyavlenskii-Schiff (CBS), the modified Calogero-Bogoyavlenskii-Schiff (CBS), and the modified KdV-CBS equations are some of the problems for which we want to find new exact solutions. We employ similarity variables to reduce the number of independent variables and inverse similarity transformations to obtain exact solutions to the equations under consideration.

Exploring stakeholders' experiences and perceptions regarding barriers to effective surveillance of communicable diseases in a rural district of Pakistan: a qualitative study.

Objective: To explore the experiences and perceptions of health system stakeholders of a rural district of Sindh, Pakistan regarding the barriers to effective surveillance of communicable diseases.

Design: This qualitative descriptive exploratory design comprised in-depth interviews. Both inductive and deductive thematic analysis was applied to identify key themes from the data.

Finding the closed-form solutions of dissipative oscillatory systems.

This paper shows how to use the approximate Hamiltonian approach for the non-conservative system not capable of possessing Hamiltonian. Using the approximate Hamiltonian method for a non-conservative system is not possible in general. We propose a way to obtain the closed-form solutions for such systems.

We Won't Go There: Barriers to Accessing Maternal and Newborn Care in District Thatta, Pakistan.

Accessibility and utilization of healthcare plays a significant role in preventing complications during pregnancy, labor, and the early postnatal period. However, multiple barriers can prevent women from accessing services. The aim of this study was to explore the multifaceted barriers that inhibit women from seeking maternal and newborn health care in Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan.

Are Rural Hospitals in Pakistan Responding to the Global Surgery Movement? An Analysis of the Gaps, Challenges and Opportunities.

Background: Access to essential surgical care is vital for reduction in mortality and morbidity as a result of surgical conditions. These account for 28-32% of the overall global burden of disease, yet billions of people lack access to safe, affordable surgical and anesthesia care when needed. The purpose of this study was to assess the capacity for surgical care in rural hospitals across four provinces of Pakistan.

Exploring health care seeking knowledge, perceptions and practices for childhood diarrhea and pneumonia and their context in a rural Pakistani community.

Background: Where access to facilities for childhood diarrhea and pneumonia is inadequate, community case management (CCM) is an effective way of improving access to care. In Pakistan, utilization of CCM for these diseases through the Lady Health Worker Program remains low. Challenges of access to facilities persist leading to delayed care and poor outcomes.

High burden of prediabetes and diabetes in three large cities in South Asia: The Center for cArdio-metabolic Risk Reduction in South Asia (CARRS) Study.

Aim: To estimate the prevalence of, and assess factors associated with, diabetes and prediabetes in three South Asian cities.

Methods: Using a multi-stage cluster random sample representative of each city, 16,288 subjects aged ≥20 years (Chennai: 6906, Delhi: 5365 and Karachi: 4017) were recruited to the Centre for cArdio-metabolic Risk Reduction in South-Asia (CARRS) Study. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were measured in 13720 subjects.

Experience of devolution in district health system of Pakistan: perspectives regarding needed reforms.

Objective: To identify the strengths and weaknesses of the devolved district health system from the experiences of different stakeholders, and recommend direction for reforms in the existing system.

Methods: Using qualitative exploratory design, the study was conducted in 3 cities of the province of Sindh in Pakistan--Karachi, Khairpur and Larkana--from January to March 2010. Nine in-depth interviews were conducted with multiple stakeholders (District Coordination Officer, Executive District Officer, Medical Superintendent, Medical officers, Health system experts) of the district health system.