Barriers to Access of Healthcare Services for Rural Women-Applying Gender Lens on TB in a Rural District of Sindh, Pakistan.

Background: Women in the rural districts of Pakistan face numerous barriers to healthcare, rendering gender-responsive health programming important, including for the disease of tuberculosis (TB). This study was conducted to assess the general understanding of TB and for women's access to healthcare, as a first step towards implementation of a gender responsive TB program in Tando Allahyar, a rural district of Pakistan.

Methods: A total of 36 participants were interviewed for the study.

Development and validation of a psychometric scale to assess attitude towards safe abortions in Pakistan.

Despite severe health and economic consequences that women face because of the negative attitude of healthcare providers towards safe abortion and post-abortion care (SA/PAC), no psychometric tool has yet been validated for assessing the attitude towards SA/PAC. Only a handful of studies have attempted to assess healthcare providers' attitude towards safe abortions in Pakistan. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and validate a psychometric scale to assess attitude towards safe abortions in Pakistan.

A study protocol for an mHealth, multi-centre randomized control trial to promote use of postpartum contraception amongst rural women in Punjab, Pakistan.

Background: Provision of family planning services during the immediate post-partum phase is considered effective and cost-efficient for promoting healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. This research aims to test the effectiveness of mobile phone-based interventions in promoting use of postpartum contraception. Moreover, it will also test the non-inferiority of text and voice messages compared to interactive phone-based counselling.

Does courtesy bias affect how clients report on objective and subjective measures of family planning service quality? A comparison between facility- and home-based interviews.

Purpose: Despite a general understanding that exit interviews being conducted at service providers' facilities may influence clients' responses favorably to health professionals, there is very little evidence available that demonstrates the extent to which this problem exists. This study aimed at assessing and comparing clients' perceptions of the quality of family planning services and their satisfaction levels between facility- and home-based interviews.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among clients receiving family planning services across three service delivery channels - nongovernmental organization (NGO) clinics, social franchise (SF) centers, and outreach camps.