Health Facilities Readiness and Determinants to Manage Cardiovascular Disease in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal: Evidence from the National Service Provision Assessment Survey.

Background: In South Asia, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are an increasing public health concern. One strategy for dealing with the growing CVDs epidemic is to make health facilities more ready to provide CVDs services. The study's objectives were to: (1) assess healthcare facilities' readiness to offer CVDs services; and (2) identify the variables that influence such readiness. Methods: This study employed data from the Afghanistan Service Provision Assessment Survey 2018-2019, Bangladesh Health Facility Survey 2017, and Nepal Health Facility Survey 2021 that were cross-sectional and nationally representative. In Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, 117, 368, and 1,381 health facilities, respectively, were examined. A total of 10 items/indicators were used to measure a health facility's readiness to provide CVDs services across three domains. Results: The mean readiness scores of managing CVDs were 6.7, 5.6, and 4.6 in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, respectively. Availability of trained staff for CVD services are not commonly accessible in Afghanistan (21.5%), Bangladesh (15.3%), or Nepal (12.9%), except from supplies and equipment. Afghanistan has the highest levels of medicine and other commodity availability. Among the common factors linked with readiness scores, we ought to expect a 0.02 unit rise in readiness scores for three nations for every unit increase in number of CVDs care providers. In Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, availability of both diagnosis and treatment facilities was associated with increases in readiness scores of 27%, 9%, and 17%, respectively. Additionally, an association was observed between nation-specific facility types and the readiness scores. Conclusions: Country-specific factors as well as universal factors present in all three nations must be addressed to improve a health facility's readiness to provide CVDs care. To create focused and efficient country-specific plans to raise the standard of CVD care in South Asia, more investigation is necessary to ascertain the reasons behind country-level variations in the availability of tracer items.

Assessing the readiness of health facilities to provide family planning services in low-resource settings: Insights from nationally representative service provision assessment surveys in 10 Countries.

BACKGROUND: Many low-income countries continue to have high fertility levels and unmet need for family planning (FP) despite progress in increasing access to modern contraceptive methods and in reducing the total fertility rate (TFR). Health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia (SA) are thought to be unable to adequately deal with the burden of high unmet FP demands due to their weaker health systems. As a result, determining the readiness of health facilities that offer FP services is critical for identifying weaknesses and opportunities for continued development of FP health systems in those regions. Service Provision Assessment (SPA) tools-which break down health systems into measurable, trackable components-are one useful way to assess service readiness and the ability of health institutions to deliver FP services. METHODS: Using data from nationally representative SPA surveys, we conducted a study that aimed to: (1) evaluate healthcare facilities' readiness to provide FP services; and (2) identify the factors that affect FP service readiness. Using a cross-sectional survey design, we used data from SPA surveys conducted in 10 low-resource SA and SSA countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nepal, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We analyzed data from public and private health facilities in Afghanistan (84), Bangladesh (1,303), Kenya (567), Malawi (810), Namibia (357), Nepal (899), Rwanda (382), Senegal (334), Tanzania (933), and the DRC (1,061) for a total of 6,730 facilities. We used 17 items/indicators recommended by the Service Availability and Readiness Assessment to measure a health facility's readiness to provide FP services across four domains. RESULTS: Only 3.6% to 34.1% of the health facilities were reporting at least 75% (12-13 of 17) of the relevant items for FP service provision. Most of the health facilities in the countries under investigation suffered from lack of readiness, meaning that they did not fulfill at least 75% of the standards (12-13 items of 17 items on the availability of trained staff and guidelines, equipment, and commodities components). The factors associated with higher readiness scores varied among the 10 countries analyzed. Regression models showed that increases in the number of FP healthcare providers available at a health facility and infection control measures for FP exams were factors linked to increased readiness scores in all 10 countries. The low readiness of health facilities to provide FP services in the countries studied showed that the health systems in these low-resource settings faced significant problems with providing FP services. Differences in country-specific variability in the characteristics linked with better preparedness ratings could be attributed to data collected across different years in different nations or to country-specific healthcare financing policies. CONCLUSIONS: To increase a health facility's readiness to offer FP services, country-specific factors must be addressed, in addition to common factors found in all 10 countries. Further research is required to determine the causes of country-level differences in FP tracer item availability to develop targeted and effective country-specific strategies to improve the quality of FP services in the SA and SSA regions and address unmet need for FP.

Socioeconomic inequalities in the continuum of care across women's reproductive life cycle in Bangladesh.

We examined the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and continuum of care (CoC) completion rate in maternal, neonatal, and child health among mothers in Bangladesh. We used data from the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (BDHS) from 2017 to 2018. Our findings were based on the responses of 1527 married women who had at least one child aged 12 to 23 months at the time of the survey. As a measure of SES, we focused on the standard of living (hereinafter referred to as wealth). The CoC for maternal and child health (MNCH) services is the study's outcome variable. The CoC was calculated using seven MNCH interventions: four or more antenatal care (ANC) visits with a skilled practitioner, delivery by a skilled birth attendant, post-natal care for mothers (PNCM) within two days of giving birth, post-natal care for newborns (PNCM) within two days of birth, immunization, age-appropriate breastfeeding, and maternal current use of modern family planning (FP) methods. Only 18.1% of Bangladeshi women completed all seven MNCH care interventions during the reproductive life span. Participants in the high SES group were 2.30 times (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.61-3.28) more likely than those in the low SES group to have higher composite care index (CCI) scores. Women with secondary or higher secondary education, as well as women who were exposed to mass media at least once a week, women who lived in an urban setting, women who had an intended pregnancy, and women with one parity, are associated with high CCI scores when other sociodemographic variables are considered. The complete CoC for MNCH reveals an extremely low completion rate, which may suggest that Bangladeshi mothers, newborns, and children are not receiving the most out of their present health care. Participants in the high SES group displayed higher CCI values than those in the low SES group, indicating that SES is one of the primary drivers of completion of CoC for MNCH services.

Microbial Quality Assessment and Efficacy of Low-Cost Disinfectants on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Collected from Urban Areas of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

This study aimed to examine the total viable bacteria (TVBC); total coliform (TCC); fecal coliform (TFC); pathogenic Pseudomonas spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and total fungi (TF); and the effect of different low-cost disinfectants (sterile water, salt water, blanched, and vinegar) in decontamination of 12 types of fruit and 10 types of vegetables. In fruit samples, the lowest TVBC was enumerated at 3.18 ± 0.27 log CFU/g in Indian gooseberry and the highest at 6.47 ± 0.68 log CFU/g in guava. Staphylococci (2.04 ± 0.53-5.10 ± 0.02 log CFU/g), Pseudomonas (1.88 ± 0.03-5.38 ± 0.08 log CFU/g), and total fungi (2.60 ± 0.18-7.50 ± 0.15 log CFU/g) were found in all fruit samples; however, no Salmonella was detected in fruit samples. Similarly, the lowest TVBC recorded 5.67± 0.49 log CFU/g in cucumber and the highest 7.37 ± 0.06 log CFU/g in yard long bean. The Staphylococci (3.48 ± 0.13-4.81 ± 0.16 log CFU/g), Pseudomonas (3.57± 0.21- 4.75 ± 0.23 log CFU/g), TCC (1.85 ± 1.11-56.50 ± 37.14 MPN/g), TFC (1.76 ± 0.87- 3.78 ± 3.76 MPN/g), and TF (3.79 ± 0.18-4.40 ± 0.38 log CFU/g) were recorded in all vegetables samples, but no Salmonella was detected in yard long bean, pointed gourd, carrot, tomato, cucumber, or brinjal. However, vinegar showed the highest microbial load reduction of selected fruit and vegetables among the different treatments. With vinegar treatment, the highest reduction of TVBC (1.61-log) and TF (2.54-log) was observed for fruits, and TVBC (2.31-log) and TF (2.41-log) for vegetables. All the disinfectant treatments resulted in significant (p < 0.01) bacterial load reduction compared to control for the studied fruits and vegetable samples.

Animal-Based Welfare Assessment of Cattle and Water Buffalo in Bangladeshi Slaughterhouses.

This study quantified the welfare of 423 cattle and water buffalo in four Bangladeshi slaughterhouses to identify facility and species-specific factors that influence welfare. The majority of animals arrived at the slaughterhouse with injuries, signs of dehydration and oculo-nasal discharge. During slaughter, buffalo experienced more stabbing at the throat (21%), compared to local cattle (10%, P = 0.011), and significantly more cuts to the neck during slaughter (5.1 ± 1) than Hariana (3.9 ± 1) or local cattle (3.6 ± 1.1; P < 0.001). These results indicated that welfare compromise is common to all species, but that the risk to buffalo was greater. Partial severing of carotid arteries was common and affected time to unconsciousness. There was a statistical interaction between facility and species on the time taken for animals to reach unconsciousness, suggesting that welfare within a location could be improved; however, animal welfare was compromised at all facilities. Immediate welfare improvements could be made by training for effective halal slaughter, and future welfare improvements could be gained by improved facility infrastructure for restraint and halal approved pre-slaughter stunning.

Assessment of structurally and functionally high-risk nsSNPs impacts on human bone morphogenetic protein receptor type IA (BMPR1A) by computational approach.

BMPR1A (BMP type 1 receptor) is a transmembrane cell-surface receptor also known as ALK3 (activin-like kinases-3) encodes for a type I serine/threonine kinase receptor and a member of the transforming growth-factor ß-receptor (TGF-ß) super family. The BMPR1A has a significant interaction with BMP-2 for protein activity and also has a low affinity with growth and differentiation factor 5 (GDF5); positively regulates chondrocyte differentiation. The genetic variations can alter the structure and function of the BMPR1A gene that causes several diseases such as juvenile polyposis syndrome or hereditary cancer-predisposing syndrome. The current study was carried out to identify potential deleterious non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) in BMPR1A by implementing different computational algorithms such as SIFT, PolyPhen2, SNAP2, PROVEAN, PhD-SNP, SNPs&GO, nsSNPAnalyzer, and P-Mut. From 205 nsSNPs in BMPR1A, 7 nsSNPs (C76Y, C124R, C124Y, C376Y, R443C, R480W, and W487R) were predicted as deleterious in 8 prediction algorithms. The Consurf analysis showed that selected 7 nsSNPs were present in the highly conserved regions. Molecular dynamics simulation analysis also performed to explore conformational changes in the variant structure with respect to its native structure. According to the MDS result, all variants flexibility and rigidity were unbalanced, which may alter the structural and functional behavior of the native protein. Although, three nsSNPs i.e., C124R, C376Y, and R443C have already been reported in patients associated with JPS, but their structural and functional molecular studies remain uncharacterized. Therefore, the findings of this study can provide a better understanding of uncharacterized nsSNPS and to find their association with disease susceptibility and also facilitate to the researchers for designing or developing the target dependent drugs.

Exploring the influence of psychosocial factors on exclusive breastfeeding in Bangladesh.

Exclusive breastfeeding is a proven benefit for both mothers and infants and is, therefore, an important public health priority. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is regarded as one of the potential psychosocial risk factors that may negatively affect exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). This study aimed to explore the influence of psychosocial factors including IPV on EBF. Cross-sectional survey data was collected from October 2015 to January 2016 in Chandpur District of Bangladesh from 426 married women, aged 15-49 years, who had at least one child 6 months of age or younger. Multivariate logistic regression models were used in order to investigate whether women who experienced IPV after childbirth, as well as other risk factors such as postpartum depression (PPD) and childhood sexual abuse, were more likely to face difficulties with EBF compared with women who had not experienced these same risk factors. Whilst the initiation rate of breastfeeding was 99.3%, at the time of the woman's interview, the overall EBF rate had fallen to 43.7%. Based on the adjusted model, women who experienced physical IPV (AOR 0.17, 95% CI [0.07, 0.40]) and psychological IPV (AOR 0.51, 95% CI [0.26, 1.00]) after childbirth and women who reported childhood sexual abuse (AOR 0.32, 95% CI [0.13, 0.80]) and PPD (AOR 0.20, 95% CI [0.09, 0.44]) were significantly less likely to exclusively breastfeed their infants than those who had not reported these experiences. Moreover, women with an intended pregnancy and high social support exhibited a higher likelihood of EBF. Our results suggest that preventing or reducing the occurrence of physical IPV, PPD and childhood sexual abuse may improve the EBF duration. Support from family members can assist in this process.