Objective: The prevalence of obesity is rising in both developed and developing countries. Globally, it is estimated that nearly one billion adults are overweight at least 300 million of them are clinically obese. In Afghanistan no published data is available regarding non-communicable diseases including obesity. This paper reports the prevalence and associated risk factors of obesity among adu...

High population and irregular urban development in Kabul city, Afghanistan's capital, are among factors that increase its vulnerability to earthquake disasters (on top of its location in a high seismic region); this can lead to widespread economic loss and casualties. This study aims to evaluate earthquake risks in Kabul's 13th district based on scientific data. The research data, which include...

This study was conducted at the paediatric emergency department of a tertiary care teaching and referral hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan to assess the morbidity and mortality pattern of illness in paediatric population. Afghanistan has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, and there is complete breakdown of the health care system in the country because of the continued war. A t...

A prevalence survey in Kabul City showed that 2.7% and 21.9% of persons have active leishmaniasis lesions or scars, respectively. Incidence of disease was estimated to be 2.9% (29 cases/1,000 persons per year; 95% confidence interval 0.018 to 0.031). Disease was associated with age and gender; logistic regression analyses showed significant clustering of cases.

Background. This study had the objective to assess the prevalence and associated factors of hypertension in an urban setting, Kabul city, Afghanistan. Materials and Methods. The World Health Organization's STEP-wise approach was adopted and used in Kabul in November 2015. The study analyzed a sample of 1172 adults in the age group of 25-70 years. Demographic, socioeconomic, and behavior data we...

BACKGROUND Data on mortality rates are crucial to guide health interventions in crisis-affected and resource-poor settings. The methods currently available to collect mortality data in such settings feature important methodological limitations. We developed and validated a new method to provide near real-time mortality estimates in such settings. METHODS We selected four study sites: Kabul, A...

A robust and rapid methodology for the determination of iodine by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in environmental samples is presented. Data were initially obtained for the validation of the analytical measurements, using 17 commercially available soil reference materials. The methodology was then tested on soil and water samples collected in Afghanistan where iodine deficiency an...

The background I, along with my wife Veronica Doubleday, have been engaged with the music of Afghanistan for the last 35 years. The foundation of my knowledge of Afghan music comes from 2 years fieldwork in Herat, and to a much lesser extent Kabul, in the 1970s. My first foray into the Afghan diaspora was in 1985, making the film Amir: An Afghan refugee musician's life in Peshawar, Pakistan. Si...

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