TY - JOUR
T1 - Access to safe, timely and affordable surgical, anaesthesia and obstetric care in Pakistan
T2 - a 16-year scoping review
AU - Ashraf, Muhammad
AU - Vervoort, Dominique
AU - Rizvi, Syeda
AU - Fatima, Irum
AU - Shoman, Haitham
AU - Meara, John G.
AU - Samad, Lubna
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© World Health Organization (WHO) 2022.
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - Background: Very little is known about the state of surgical, anaesthesia and obstetric care in Pakistan. Aims: This study aimed to assess the literature available on surgical, anaesthesia and obstetric care in Pakistan to under-stand the strengths and weaknesses of this care based on the domains of the framework of national surgical obstetric anaesthesia plans, namely: infrastructure, workforce, service delivery, information management, governance and service delivery. Methods: Relevant studies in English published between 2003 and 2018 were identified by searching electronic databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE and Scopus. Searches of the grey literature were also done for documents of var-ious organizations. Thematic content analysis was conducted to collate, summarize and analyse the data. Results: A total of 2347 studies were identified and screened, of which 57 articles met the inclusion criteria. While na-tional-level surveys, reviews and policy documents provided an understanding of the existing surgical, anaesthesia and obstetric care services in the country, most of the studies were limited in their scope and therefore were not representative of the situation at the national level. In terms of surgical, anaesthesia and obstetric care, the health care infrastructure, availability of services, workforce, financial protection, information management and governance frameworks have failed to develop at the same pace as the needs of the ever-growing population in Pakistan. Conclusions: Our findings can be used to guide future research activities as part of efforts to strengthen the surgical system in Pakistan. Recent government initiatives hold promise for future improvement in access to surgical care.
AB - Background: Very little is known about the state of surgical, anaesthesia and obstetric care in Pakistan. Aims: This study aimed to assess the literature available on surgical, anaesthesia and obstetric care in Pakistan to under-stand the strengths and weaknesses of this care based on the domains of the framework of national surgical obstetric anaesthesia plans, namely: infrastructure, workforce, service delivery, information management, governance and service delivery. Methods: Relevant studies in English published between 2003 and 2018 were identified by searching electronic databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE and Scopus. Searches of the grey literature were also done for documents of var-ious organizations. Thematic content analysis was conducted to collate, summarize and analyse the data. Results: A total of 2347 studies were identified and screened, of which 57 articles met the inclusion criteria. While na-tional-level surveys, reviews and policy documents provided an understanding of the existing surgical, anaesthesia and obstetric care services in the country, most of the studies were limited in their scope and therefore were not representative of the situation at the national level. In terms of surgical, anaesthesia and obstetric care, the health care infrastructure, availability of services, workforce, financial protection, information management and governance frameworks have failed to develop at the same pace as the needs of the ever-growing population in Pakistan. Conclusions: Our findings can be used to guide future research activities as part of efforts to strengthen the surgical system in Pakistan. Recent government initiatives hold promise for future improvement in access to surgical care.
KW - Pakistan
KW - anaesthesia
KW - health services accessibility
KW - obstetrics
KW - surgery
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130304085&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85130304085&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.26719/emhj.22.009
DO - 10.26719/emhj.22.009
M3 - Review article
C2 - 35545912
AN - SCOPUS:85130304085
SN - 1020-3397
VL - 28
SP - 302
EP - 313
JO - Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal
JF - Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal
IS - 4
ER -