Daughters and daughters-in-law providing elderly care: a qualitative study from Karachi, Pakistan.

Background And Context: Providing care to the elderly is an emerging area of interest due to the increase in elderly population not only in the developed world but also in low and middle income countries. In Pakistan a country with an overall population of over 200 million, the elderly population amounts to 11.3 million.

Fighting the COVID-19 pandemic: A socio-cultural insight into Pakistan.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals around the world were driven by universal values of solidarity and duty to provide care. However, local societal norms and existing healthcare systems influenced interactions among physicians, and with patients and their families. An exploratory qualitative study design using in-depth interviews was undertaken with physicians working at two public sector hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan.

Indirect costs associated with "free" paediatric haemodialysis: Experience from Karachi, Pakistan.

Treatment of children with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), requiring maintenance dialysis, poses unique challenges. In low- and middle-income countries, lifelong treatment leads to significant stress on the overall family unit. Families face serious financial, social and psychological consequences despite free treatment.

Primary hyperoxaluria and genetic linkages: an insight into the disease burden from Pakistan.

Autosomal recessive disorders are prevalent in Pakistan, a developing South Asian country where consanguineous marriages are common. This study seeks to determine the prevalence of monogenic causes in children presenting with nephrocalcinosis and nephrolithiasis at a dialysis and transplant center in Karachi, Pakistan. A retrospective analysis was conducted in children aged 1-18 years presenting with nephrocalcinosis, between 2010 and 2019.

Ethical Challenges in Dialysis and Transplantation: Perspectives From the Developing World.

Renal replacement therapies including dialysis and transplantation for patients with end-stage kidney failure are treatment options beyond the reach of a large segment of the population, particularly in resource-constrained settings. Health care professionals practicing within developing countries face unique ethical issues in the provision of these treatment options despite the existence of free treatment at different centers. Apart from issues of accessibility of dialysis services, initiation of treatment can have disastrous consequences for the entire family unit, which is magnified in collectivist societies.

Demystifying the practice of khafd in the Dawoodi Bohra community: A commentary on the WeSpeakOut report from India.

In this commentary, we critique a recent report on female genital cutting (FGC) in the Indian Dawoodi Bohra community titled "The Clitoral hood a contested site: Khafd or female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in India." Published against the backdrop of possible legislation against FGC in India, the report makes good recommendations and is a useful addition to global literature on FGC. We critique specific sections of the document using relevant literature and informal conversations with the Bohra community in Pakistan, thereby highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses.

Biobanking in the subcontinent: exploring concerns.

Biobanking is an important tool for biomedical research. However, it raises a variety of ethical issues, which are compounded in the developing world. This paper is based on data from three sources on the ethical issues associated with biobanking, including a mixed method pilot study conducted with students in Karachi, Pakistan, a workshop in Karachi, and another workshop held in Bengaluru, India.