Difficulties in maintaining improved handwashing behavior, Karachi, Pakistan.

Association between intensive handwashing promotion and child development in Karachi, Pakistan: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate associations between handwashing promotion and child growth and development. DESIGN Cluster randomized controlled trial. SETTING Informal settlements in Karachi, Pakistan. PARTICIPANTS A total of 461 children who were enrolled in a trial of household-level handwashing promotion in 2003 and were younger than 8 years at reassessment in 2009. INTERVENTIONS In 2003, ne...

Delayed effectiveness of home-based interventions in reducing childhood diarrhea, Karachi, Pakistan.

We introduced home drinking water disinfection and handwashing with soap in Karachi squatter settlements to evaluate their effect on diarrhea. In April 2000, 150 households received soap, 76 received dilute bleach and a water storage vessel, and 76 were enrolled as controls. In 2000, among households wealthy enough to own a refrigerator, children in households that received bleach and a vessel ...

Field trial of a low cost method to evaluate hand cleanliness.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate a simple low cost method for measuring hand contamination as an objective assessment of handwashing practices. METHOD As part of a larger randomized controlled trial of handwashing promotion with soap conducted in squatter settlements of Karachi, Pakistan, a randomly selected subset of 52 mothers in households receiving soap and handwashing promotion and 28 mothers in co...

Professional Practices Promoting Health of Healthcare Workers: Comparison of Public and Private Hospitals in Pakistan

Perceived Barriers to Utilizing Maternal and Neonatal Health Services in Contracted-Out Versus Government-Managed Health Facilities in the Rural Districts of Pakistan

Background A number of developing countries have contracted out public health facilities to the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in order to improve service utilization. However, there is a paucity of in-depth qualitative information on barriers to access services as a result of contracting from service users’ perspective. The objective of this study was to explore perceived barriers to util...