Geographic accessibility to childhood tuberculosis care in Pakistan
Background Tuberculosis (TB) in children is difficult to detect and often needs specialists to diagnose; the health system is supposed to refer to higher level of health care when diagnosis is not settled in a sick child. In Pakistan, the primary health care level can usually not diagnose childhood...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Global Health Action |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2022.2095782 |
| _version_ | 1797755679466848256 |
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| author | Aashifa Yaqoob Muhammad Rizwan Alvi Razia Fatima Hina Najmi Zia Samad Nadia Nisar Anwar Ul Haq Basharat Javed Abdul Wali Khan Sven Gudmund Hinderaker |
| author_facet | Aashifa Yaqoob Muhammad Rizwan Alvi Razia Fatima Hina Najmi Zia Samad Nadia Nisar Anwar Ul Haq Basharat Javed Abdul Wali Khan Sven Gudmund Hinderaker |
| author_sort | Aashifa Yaqoob |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Tuberculosis (TB) in children is difficult to detect and often needs specialists to diagnose; the health system is supposed to refer to higher level of health care when diagnosis is not settled in a sick child. In Pakistan, the primary health care level can usually not diagnose childhood TB and will refer to a paediatricians working at a secondary or tertiary care hospital. We aimed to determine the health services access to child TB services in Pakistan. Objective We aimed to determine the geographical access to child TB services in Pakistan. Method We used geospatial analysis to calculate the distance from the nearest public health facility to settlements, using qGIS, as well as population living within the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended 5-km distance. Result At primary health care level, 14.1% of facilities report child TB cases to national tuberculosis program and 74% of the population had geographical access to general primary health care within 5-km radius. To secondary- and tertiary-level health care, 33.5% of the population had geographical access within 5-km radius. The average distance from a facility for diagnosis of childhood TB was 26.3 km from all settlement to the nearest child TB sites. The population of one province (Balochistan) had longer distances to health care services. Conclusion With fairly good coverage of primary health care but lower coverage of specialist care for childhood TB, the health system depends heavily on a good referral system from the communities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:49:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-81099afca96344968d3b0ea9c99753c0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1654-9880 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:49:35Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Health Action |
| spelling | doaj.art-81099afca96344968d3b0ea9c99753c02023-08-03T09:07:51ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGlobal Health Action1654-98802022-12-0115110.1080/16549716.2022.20957822095782Geographic accessibility to childhood tuberculosis care in PakistanAashifa Yaqoob0Muhammad Rizwan Alvi1Razia Fatima2Hina Najmi3Zia Samad4Nadia Nisar5Anwar Ul Haq6Basharat Javed7Abdul Wali Khan8Sven Gudmund Hinderaker9Common Management Unit [TB, HIV/AIDS & Malaria]Inbox Business TechnologiesCommon Management Unit [TB, HIV/AIDS & Malaria]Health Services AcademyCommon Management Unit (TB, HIV/AIDS & Malaria)Public Health EnglandMinistry of National Health Services Regulation & Coordination, Government of PakistanCommon Management Unit (TB, HIV/AIDS & Malaria)Common Management Unit (TB, HIV/AIDS & Malaria)University of BergenBackground Tuberculosis (TB) in children is difficult to detect and often needs specialists to diagnose; the health system is supposed to refer to higher level of health care when diagnosis is not settled in a sick child. In Pakistan, the primary health care level can usually not diagnose childhood TB and will refer to a paediatricians working at a secondary or tertiary care hospital. We aimed to determine the health services access to child TB services in Pakistan. Objective We aimed to determine the geographical access to child TB services in Pakistan. Method We used geospatial analysis to calculate the distance from the nearest public health facility to settlements, using qGIS, as well as population living within the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended 5-km distance. Result At primary health care level, 14.1% of facilities report child TB cases to national tuberculosis program and 74% of the population had geographical access to general primary health care within 5-km radius. To secondary- and tertiary-level health care, 33.5% of the population had geographical access within 5-km radius. The average distance from a facility for diagnosis of childhood TB was 26.3 km from all settlement to the nearest child TB sites. The population of one province (Balochistan) had longer distances to health care services. Conclusion With fairly good coverage of primary health care but lower coverage of specialist care for childhood TB, the health system depends heavily on a good referral system from the communities.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2022.2095782tuberculosischildrenaccesssecondarytertiary care levelpublic sectordistancehealth facilitiessettlements |
| spellingShingle | Aashifa Yaqoob Muhammad Rizwan Alvi Razia Fatima Hina Najmi Zia Samad Nadia Nisar Anwar Ul Haq Basharat Javed Abdul Wali Khan Sven Gudmund Hinderaker Geographic accessibility to childhood tuberculosis care in Pakistan Global Health Action tuberculosis children access secondary tertiary care level public sector distance health facilities settlements |
| title | Geographic accessibility to childhood tuberculosis care in Pakistan |
| title_full | Geographic accessibility to childhood tuberculosis care in Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | Geographic accessibility to childhood tuberculosis care in Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Geographic accessibility to childhood tuberculosis care in Pakistan |
| title_short | Geographic accessibility to childhood tuberculosis care in Pakistan |
| title_sort | geographic accessibility to childhood tuberculosis care in pakistan |
| topic | tuberculosis children access secondary tertiary care level public sector distance health facilities settlements |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2022.2095782 |
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