Achieving success with family planning in rural Afghanistan

Huber, D; Saeedi, Nika; Samadi, Abdul Khalil

doi:10.2471/blt.08.059410

Cited by 68 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Similar evidence is now emerging from Africa for injectable contraceptives (66,76,96,117). Community-based distribution programs, including a recently implemented program in Afghanistan, have increased by three-or fourfold (from 5-10% to 20-40%) usage of family-planning methods in areas where initial coverage is very low (53,110).…”

Section: Improvement Of Women's Healthmentioning

confidence: 84%

Community Health Workers in Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries: An Overview of Their History, Recent Evolution, and Current Effectiveness

Perry

Zulliger

Rogers

2014

Annu. Rev. Public Health

688

671

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the past half-century, community health workers (CHWs) have been a growing force for extending health care and improving the health of populations. Following their introduction in the 1970s, many large-scale CHW programs declined during the 1980s, but CHW programs throughout the world more recently have seen marked growth. Research and evaluations conducted predominantly during the past two decades offer compelling evidence that CHWs are critical for helping health systems achieve their potential, regardless of a country's level of development. In low-income countries, CHWs can make major improvements in health priority areas, including reducing childhood undernutrition, improving maternal and child health, expanding access to family-planning services, and contributing to the control of HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis infections. In many middle-income countries, most notably Brazil, CHWs are key members of the health team and essential for the provision of primary health care and health promotion. In the United States, evidence indicates that CHWs can contribute to reducing the disease burden by participating in the management of hypertension, in the reduction of cardiovascular risk factors, in diabetes control, in the management of HIV infection, and in cancer screening, particularly with hard-to-reach subpopulations. This review highlights the history of CHW programs around the world and their growing importance in achieving health for all.

show abstract

Section: Improvement Of Women's Healthmentioning

confidence: 84%

Community Health Workers in Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries: An Overview of Their History, Recent Evolution, and Current Effectiveness

Perry

Zulliger

Rogers

2014

Annu. Rev. Public Health

688

671

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Religious leaders, who had been given accurate information about contraceptives and the benefits for women and their families, promoted birth control or birth spacing and played a key role in changing community behaviours [44]. Another study found that medical misconceptions about the safety and efficacy of contraceptives had a bigger impact on uptake then cultural and religious barriers [45]. Once the religious leaders participating in the study had been educated about the benefits they started endorsing birth spacing within the community [45].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another study found that medical misconceptions about the safety and efficacy of contraceptives had a bigger impact on uptake then cultural and religious barriers [45]. Once the religious leaders participating in the study had been educated about the benefits they started endorsing birth spacing within the community [45]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An assessment of the barriers to accessing the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) in Afghanistan: was the BPHS a success?

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Afghanistan is one of the most fragile and conflict-affected countries in the world. It has experienced almost uninterrupted conflict for the last thirty years, with the present conflict now lasting over a decade. With no history of a functioning healthcare system, the creation of the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) in 2003 was a response to Afghanistan’s dire health needs following decades of war. Its objective was to provide a bare minimum of essential health services, which could be scaled up rapidly through contracting mechanisms with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The central thesis of this article is that, despite the good intentions of the BPHS, not enough has been done to overcome the barriers to accessing its services. This analysis, enabled through a review of the existing literature, identifies and categorises these barriers into the three access dimensions of: acceptability, affordability and availability. As each of these is explored individually, analysis will show the extent to which these barriers to access are a critical issue, consider the underlying reasons for their existence and evaluate the efforts to overcome these barriers. Understanding these barriers and the policies that have been implemented to address them is critical to the future of health system strengthening in Afghanistan.

show abstract

“…13 Lack of human and technical resources were the major reported reasons associated with adverse maternal and infant health outcomes in the poor-resource setting of Afghanistan. [14][15][16] The findings of the studies conducted between 2001 and 2011 that there is a need to improve health facilities, and to increase the number of professionals in both urban and rural areas in order to improve maternal health. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Published research suggests that the provision of expanded health services alone would not lead to the increased utilization of Bartlett et al found that 93% of women who died due to maternity-related causes were illiterate.…”

Section: Health Carementioning

confidence: 99%

“…15,27,32,[36][37][38][39] One study in the capital city revealed the mean age at marriage was 17.2 years with 16% married at age 14 or younger. 10 Another study in rural western Afghanistan found that 47% of women became pregnant before the age of sixteen.…”

Section: Sociocultural Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Determinants of Maternal Health in Afghanistan: A Review

Najafizada

Bourgeault

Labonté

2017

cajgh

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: Afghanistan has a high maternal mortality rate of 400 per 100,000 live births. Although direct causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in Afghanistan include hemorrhage, obstructed labor, infection, high blood pressure, and unsafe abortion, the high burden of diseases responsible for maternal mortality arises in large part due to social determinants of health. The focus of this literature review is to examine the impact of various social determinants of health on maternal health in Afghanistan, filling an important gap in the existing literature. Methods: This narrative review was conducted using Arksey and O'Malley's framework of (1) defining the question, (2) searching the literature, (3) assessing the studies, (4) synthesizing selected evidence in context, and (5) summarizing potential programmatic implication of the context. We searched Medline, CABI global health database, and Google Scholar for relevant publications. Results: A total of 38 articles/reports were included in this review. We found that social determinants such as maternal education, sociocultural practices, and social infrastructure have a significant impact on maternal health. Health care may be the immediate determinant, but it is influenced by other determinants that must be addressed in order to alleviate the burden on health care, as well as to achieve long-term reduction in maternal mortality. Conclusion: Because of the importance of social factors for maternal health outcomes, committed involvement of multiple government sectors (i.e. education, labor and social affairs, information and culture, transport and rural development among others, alongside health care) is the long-term solution to the maternal health problems in Afghanistan. National and international organizations' long-term commitment to social investment such as education, local economy, cultural change, and social infrastructure is recommended for Afghanstan and globally.

show abstract

Achieving success with family planning in rural Afghanistan

Cited by 68 publications

References 8 publications

Community Health Workers in Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries: An Overview of Their History, Recent Evolution, and Current Effectiveness

Community Health Workers in Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries: An Overview of Their History, Recent Evolution, and Current Effectiveness

An assessment of the barriers to accessing the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) in Afghanistan: was the BPHS a success?

Social Determinants of Maternal Health in Afghanistan: A Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About