Past – The Solutions Pakistan

Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2020

Funding Agency: World Health Organization

Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) provides an insight into students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. Pakistan has implemented three rounds of GYTS in 2003-04, 2008-09 and 2013. The first two rounds were conducted at the regional level while the last round was conducted at the national level. The information gathered through these surveys was used for advocacy at all fora which attracted the attention of the policymakers, media and anti-tobacco advocates and tobacco control came into the limelight.

Keeping in view the post-devolution scenario in the country wherein the provinces have been given the autonomous status, there is a need to conduct the next round of GYTS at the national level in all four provinces and one region namely Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad. The objectives of the survey were.

⦁ To monitor youth tobacco, use among youth and track key tobacco control indicators at national and regional levels
⦁ To generate comparable data within and across countries
⦁ To generate evidence for the policymakers to take adequate tobacco control measures

The survey was school-based and used a two-stage cluster sampling design. The sampling frame consists of all public schools containing students in grades 7-10 with ages 13-15. In the first stage, schools were selected with probability proportionate to school enrolment size. In the second stage, systematic equal probability sampling was done (with a random start) from each school. The sample size for the schools was 10031 students based on the previous sample of GYTS (8723) with 15% inflation and an 80% response rate. To achieve this, a total of 165 schools (33 from each province and federal capital) were selected.

The findings of the survey are available at following link.
https://www.emro.who.int/images/stories/ncds/global_youth_tobacco_turvey_pakistan2022.pdf

2021 Opinion Poll; National Views On Sugar Sweetened Beverages In Pakistan

Funding Agency: Global Health Advocacy Incubator (USA)

Summary:
Pakistan has a huge burden of overweight (26.3%) and obesity (14.9%) which is major public
health issue in the country. Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) are a source of excessive consumption of daily sugar. These SSBs have high calorie content and limited nutritional value. There is a strong nexus between consumption of sugary drinks and obesity, overweight and non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

This Poll was designed to gauge the public’s support for imposing measures on SSBs and to assess the public awareness of the harmful health effects of SSBs. This Poll was conducted in the Capital territory of Islamabad and in four provinces (Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Baluchistan) of Pakistan.

A hybrid approach of computer assisted telephone interviews and face to face interviews was used for data collection. Ethical approval was taken from National Bioethics Committee; Pakistan and all participants gave their consent prior to participation.
A total of 6,824 adults participated in the Poll. Of the total, 85.6% of the adults are concerned about obesity, and 60% households include at least one member with at least one non communicable disease or obesity. Nine out of ten adults were unable to identify the correct quantity of sugar in a regular 250 ml bottle of soda. Approximately one in 3 adults consumes SSBs weekly and 17% on daily basis. Over 85% believe that the Pakistani Government should take steps to discourage the consumption of sugary drinks, while approximately 78% support implementing taxes on SSBs. More than 8 in 10 Pakistanis support using tax revenue for health programs.

Financial burden of Multi drug resistant tuberculosis on patients attending the PMDT sites in Pakistan

Funding Agency: WHO 2020-2021 Joint EMRO/TDR Small Grants Scheme for Implementation Research on Infectious Diseases of Poverty”.

Summary:
One of the main components of END TB strategy is that no families of the patients suffering from any form of Tuberculosis must suffer from the catastrophic costs. The catastrophic costs can be direct or indirect costs. Keeping this strategy in focus we conducted to determine the financial burden faced by the patients of Multi drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis attending PMDT sites in Pakistan. Add button (Read More)
This study was implemented in 6 PMDT sites located in all four provincial capitals, federal capital and regional capital providing treatment to the MDR tuberculosis patients. A sample size of 720 was statistically calculated and distributed equally among all the sites with 120 cases of MDR TB to be enrolled from each site. WHO approved and validated tool translated in local language Urdu was used to calculate the financial burden faced by the MDR TB cases in Pakistan. Direct costs including direct medical cost and direct non-medical cost incurred by the patients both before diagnosis and during treatment were separately calculated.

A total of 720 cases of MDR tuberculosis fulfilling the inclusion criteria were enrolled after obtaining informed consent from them. The patients of MDR TB were facing more than 17% extra costs than their routine expenses. The patients were bearing the direct medical expense of 139 USD and 132USD on non-medical expenses. Majority of cases reported joblessness and social exclusion after contracting MDR tuberculosis. Even after providing social support to the cases of MDR TB cases the patients had reported substantial decrease in household income after contracting MDR tuberculosis.

Based on the finding, it is proposed that the government and the donors need to increase the support provided to the patients of MDR tuberculosis. New Artificial embedded technology needs to be added to improve the adherence of drug-resistant tuberculosis regimen.

Click here to read the full detailed report (PDF)

Mr. Muhammad Ali Shahzada is a former civil servant who belongs to Pakistan Administrative Services and has primarily served on various positions in the public sector for over three decades. He did master’s in business administration from University of Peshawar and being a graduate of National Security Course in 2015 – 16, is an alumnus of National Defence University, Islamabad

Ms Misbah is a dedicated board member of the organization, bringing with her a strong academic background and a deep passion for empowering women through education. Holding a Master’s degree in English and a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), she combines her knowledge of language, pedagogy, and leadership to support initiatives aimed at uplifting communities. Her primary focus is on advancing female education and creating opportunities for young girls to access quality learning, guidance, and personal growth. With her vision, commitment, and expertise, Misbah plays a vital role in shaping policies and programs that foster equality, inspire confidence, and help build a brighter future for the next generation of women.

Past Projects

Financial burden of Multi drug resistant tuberculosis on patients attending the PMDT sites in Pakistan

Assessing the capacity of the provincial laboratory system of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan in accordance with IHR indicators for responding to COVID 19 pandemic

2021 Opinion Poll: National Views on Sugar sweetened beverages in Pakistan

Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GATS), 2021-22