ABSTRACT
Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR), an emerging cause of sight threat and blindness from a large rural population in Pakistan. Methods: This was a population?based cross?sectional study. We selected a rural district of Matiari Sindh Province in Pakistan, where we selected all the health facilities and their attached Lady Health Workers (LHWs)/Lady Health Supervisors (LHSs). These female health workers were trained to identify high?risk diabetic individuals in their catchment areas using pre?defined criteria and to refer them to the nearest health facilities for screening and testing random blood sugar (BSR). Adults of 18 years or above, male or female, were included in the study for DM and DR screening. Ophthalmic examination was conducted by the optometrists on those who had BSR level >180 mg/dl for the evidence of DR. Identified DR patients were referred to a linked tertiary?level ophthalmology institute for their free DR treatment. Results: Of the identified and referred 24,463 participants, 23,999 were tested for BSR and 2,331 (9.74%) were found to be high?risk patients (BSR >180 mg/dl) and had ophthalmic examination conducted. Of these, 563 had clinically established DR, a prevalence of 24.2% (95% CI, 22–26%). Significantly more DR patients (228, 40.5%) were found in the age group >60 years, with more among female (327, 58.1%) with DR. Conclusion: DR is highly prevalent in the Pakistani rural population. The establishment of an integrated approach within the health care system could decrease the burden of DR in Pakistan
ABSTRACT
Background: Pakistan is among the countries which have the highest maternal, neonatal and child mortality rates. Immediate efforts are required to enable Pakistan to achieve the health related sustainable development goals. The continuum of care interventions can substantially reduce the mortality burden, however local evidence to implement them is lacking in Pakistan. We implemented the maternal, neonatal and child health intervention package comprised of health facility strengthening, capacity building, continuum of care interventions and community mobilization and evaluated its effectiveness on maternal, neonatal and child health care practices and neonatal mortality.Methods: The intervention package was delivered through existing public health system in a rural district of Pakistan. We used a quasi-experimental design to assess the impact of interventions. Baseline and end line surveys were conducted and neonatal mortality was considered as the primary outcome measure. Data were analysed using bivariate and difference and difference analysis techniques.Results: We found a reduced risk of neonatal mortality (RR 0.704; 95% CI 0.557-0.889; p=0.0033), in intervention areas compared to control area. For secondary outcomes; including mortality for infants and under five children, antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, institutional deliveries, postnatal care, delayed bathing, inappropriate cord care practices, birth asphyxia, exclusive breastfeeding and immunization a significant difference (p<0.001) was observed in the intervention area compared to control area.Conclusions: This study provides local evidence from Pakistan that effective methods for delivering MNCH interventions within the existing health infrastructure can improve the MNCH outcomes especially in the rural areas