First aid facilities in the school settings: are schools able to manage adequately?

Background and Objective: Children spend most of their time in schools and are vulnerable to injuries and mild ailments, hence requiring first-aid care. School teacher can provide immediate first-aid care in the absence of any health professional. This study assesses first-aid facilities within school premises and assessment of teachers on first aid training

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from July-December 2017, participants were full time school teachers of both public and private sectors at both primary and secondary levels, having a minimum of one year experience. Questionnaire was filled on one to one basis by taking oral interview

Results: Out of 209 teachers, 72.7% were from private sector. Stomachache was the most common medical incident [82.29%] requiring first-aid care in schools. First aid box was available in all schools but its contents were not satisfactory. Sick bay was not found in any school. 68.42% of teachers were not trained in first-aid management because of lack of opportunity, however 56% were willing to enroll in any first aid training and majority [91.38%] considered it essential for their professional life

Conclusion: First aid facilities at various schools of Karachi and availability of trained teachers who can provide first aid care is unsatisfactory

Increasing burden of abdominal obesity in females and its aftermaths

Obesity is now recognized as one of the major public health issues all over the world. In Pakistan, it is a “silent epidemic” striking significantly because we are still struggling with health and economic burdens of malnutrition, infectious diseases and high infant mortality rates. In epidemiological studies age, sex and ethnic background all have to be taken into consideration, particularly when determining the health risk with obesity.Females are more vulnerable to be affected by obesity related health issues. Body Mass Index [BMI] is a surrogate measure of assessing obesity in terms of height and weight. It does not give any insight into regional body fat distribution. BMI is not a reliable measurement of body composition in individuals particularly in females having high body fat, rather more specifically it is excess abdominal fatness, quantified by waist circumference measurement, which is a better considered measure for assessing abdominal obesity in females

Socio cultural determinants of low contraceptive use and high unmet needs in married females of Urban Karachi

Objective:To explore knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding contraceptive use in females and to determine the socio cultural barriers that influence contraceptive uptake and contribute to significant unmet needs of family planning

Materials and Methods:This hospital based cross sectional survey was carried out from March 2015 to September 2015 at the Gynaecology and Obstetrics outpatient clinics [OPD] of two hospitals of Karachi, Liaquat National Hospital and PNS SHIFA Hospital. 383 females of age 18-49 years were enrolled after taking informed written consent. Knowledge, attitude and practices on contraception were evaluated with the help of predesigned questionnaire

Results: Mean age of participants was 30.12+ 3.05, youngest being 18 years old, while the eldest was 49 years old. Majority [64%] of the participants were housewives.Knowledge about contraceptive methods was found in 97.1%. Media was found to be main source of information. Regarding contraceptive practices, 48% women were currently using some method of contraception. Among these the most widely used method was condoms [46%]. 52% women were not currently using any method of contraception. Husband and mother in law opposition were found to be the strongest reason for not using any contraception

Conclusion:Inspite of having good knowledge, utilization of contraceptives were less because of preference for a large family norm, religious myths, cultural barriers and family opposition

Community based medical education: improving the health of community

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of student's clerkship as an approach to community based medical education in improving the health of community

Materials and Methods: This interventional study was conducted at Ziauddin Medical College; Karachi from December 2006 to December 2007.Data was collected by using structured questionnaire after the approval of university ethical review committee.Before collecting the data informed written consent was obtained from all study participants. Baseline data was recorded from100 enrolled families. Medical students visited the enrolled families on fortnightly basis during which they carried out detailed counseling and interactive sessions. At the end of four month, post intervention data was recorded and all baseline parameters were compared with

Results: The pre and the posttest results showed significant improvement in the knowledge of mothers regarding prevention and management of diarrhea

Conclusion: Community-based education can be used as effective tool in improving the health of community. Health services should support the community based interventions to improve the knowledge and practices of mother which can contribute effectively towards improving infant and child health