Are Countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region on Track towards Meeting the World Health Assembly Target for Anemia? A Review of Evidence.

Anemia is a multifactorial condition, with a complex etiology that involves nutritional and non-nutritional factors. The misconception that iron deficiency is equivalent to anemia may mask the need to address other potential causative factors. This review paper aims to (1) assess the burden of anemia vs.

Trans-Fatty Acid (TFA) elimination in Pakistan: A situational analysis.

Recent research studies have highlighted that the consumption of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFAs) causes detrimental effects on human health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the elimination of TFA from diets to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In this paper, we use WHO's REPLACE framework for a situation analysis of TFAs in Pakistan's context by reviewing the literature on its dietary and industrial sources along with the legislative and regulatory context surrounding TFA related affairs in Pakistan.

Understanding the complexities of prevalence of trans fat and its control in food supply in Pakistan.

Pakistan is among the nations with a high intake of trans-fatty acids (TFAs), a major dietary risk factor of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Efforts are underway in the country to eliminate industrially produced TFAs from the food supply in keeping with the priority targets of the World Health Organization (WHO) for 2019-2023. We reviewed the TFA content reported in industrially produced foods and discuss the regulatory landscape for TFAs, to facilitate the required policy changes in Pakistan and ultimately eliminate the TFA burden from industrial food products.

Determinants of contraceptives use amongst youth: an exploratory study with family planning service providers in Karachi Pakistan.

Introduction: In Pakistan, Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) among married female youth is 17.4% and even lower in rural and slum areas leading to rapid population growth on one hand and poor health consequences on the other. The study was conducted to explore family planning service providers' perceptions regarding use of different contraceptive methods and to identify factors that are influencing their use amongst currently married youth aged 18-24 years in slum areas of Karachi.

Parallel NGO networks for HIV control: risks and opportunities for NGO contracting.

Policy measures for preventive and promotive services are increasingly reliant on contracting of NGOs. Contracting is a neo-liberal response relying on open market competition for service delivery tenders. In contracting of health services a common assumption is a monolithic NGO market.

Myths and fallacies about male contraceptive methods: a qualitative study amongst married youth in slums of Karachi, Pakistan.

Pakistan presently has one of the largest cohorts of young people in its history, with around 36 million people between the ages of 15 and 24 years. One of the main reasons for high population growth in Pakistan is almost stagnant contraceptive prevalence rate of 30% nationally and 17.4% amongst youth.