Background: Adolescents’ social and health vulnerabilities are growing public health concerns worldwide as vulnerable adolescents have difficulties in maintaining their physical and psychosocial wellbeing. Adolescents from poor economic settings are more vulnerable because of lack of basic necessities and parental guidance.

Methods: The data are derived from the Nepal Adolescent and Youth Survey (NAYS) 2010/11 conducted among 14,754 adolescents from 72 districts of Nepal, using Probability Proportion to Size (PPS) method and multi-stage random sampling procedures.

Results: The survey shows that 16 percent of the adolescents were out of formal schooling, 32 percent reported that they were physically beaten, 14 percent told that they ever consumed alcohol, 16 percent were vulnerable from injury, 51.9 percent were vulnerable from illness requiring medical treatment and around 14 percent of the adolescents reported at least one perceived psychosocial problems. From Gender perspectives early marriage, psychosocial problems and out of schooling were the major factors responsible for vulnerability in girls while injury was the common vulnerability factor for boys. Being girl, being older and belonging to Brahmin/ Chhetri caste and residing in mountain region were the major predictors for out of schooling while contributing factors for child marriage were being girl, being older, residing in rural localities and belonging to Janajati caste. Boys, lower age’s adolescents and residing in mountain region were more vulnerable for physical violence. Alcohol was major cause of vulnerability among boys, older age, living in mountain region, belonging to Janajati caste and having lower wealth quintiles.

Conclusion: Adolescents social and health vulnerabilities are high especially among girls and those from remote areas and belonging to Dalit caste. The factors associated with vulnerabilities had mainly the socio economic causes and difficulties in access in health services.

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic illness that requires comprehensive evidence-based care. With many evidence arising about the importance of engaging the patient in self-management, we sought to analyze the situation in the state of Qatar, which has one of the highest diabetes prevalence rates in the region; to improve patients’ final health outcomes.

Methods: A structured questionnaire was administered to type II diabetic patients (n=513), aged 35-86 years from both sexes. The participants were a convenience sample of patients attending the diabetic clinics of two primary health care centers. The primary independent variables were: patient understanding of diabetes, provider’s Participatory Decision-Making (PDM) style, and Communication (PCOM). Moreover, we aimed to assess the effect these variables had on the primary outcome, which is diabetes self-management. Associations between two or more qualitative variables were analyzed using chi-square test, with a continuity correction factor when appropriate. The unpaired ‘t’ and Mann-Whitney U tests were also utilized, with a calculation of the Cronbach’s alpha.

Results: Using ANOVA models, each of the primary independent variables was shown to be a significant predictor of diabetes self-management (P<0.001). However, after implementing multivariate regression, only the patient understanding variable was strongly associated with diabetes self-management. Finally, there was no significant correlation between PDM style, PCOM, patient understanding, or self-diabetes management on one hand and age or gender on the other.

Conclusion: The study demonstrates that if diabetics understood their disease, they would have a better chance at self-management; despite the importance of provider participatory decision-making and communication in enhancing that understanding.

Background: People living with disability in the context of a generalised HIV/AIDS epidemic potentially shoulder multiple burdens of disability, poverty, stigma and discrimination. This is obvious when a person is both disabled and HIV positive. Despite the fact that they are at equal or increased risk for HIV infection, more often, their specific needs regarding HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support services are not well aligned with existing HIV/AIDS policies and programmes.

Objectives: The objectives of this study among others were to determine the important factors affecting disabled people’s access to HIV/AIDS information, counselling, testing, treatment care and support services, and to assess whether the design, content and format of HIV/ AIDS IEC materials are accessible, friendly and communicate the required messages to the disabled for behaviour change, prevention, treatment, care and support services in order to inform programming for HIV and AIDS interventions which are currently not user friendly to the special needs of people living with disabilities.

Methodology: This study employed cross sectional design whereby qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis were used. In qualitative methods of data collection, key informant interviews were used as a principal technique whereas structured questionnaire with close-ended questions was the key technique for quantitative data collection. Analysis of quantitative data was done using STATA® statistical software. Thematic content analysis was used for qualitative data analysis.

Results: The major findings of this study are summarised as follows: The physically disabled people constitute the highest (43%) of the studied population. In addition 79.9% indicated that main reason of perceiving themselves to be at the same or higher (compared to non-disabled peers) level of risk of HIV infection is because they are sexually active, contrary to the popular misconception by community members that disabled people are not sexually active. The level of stigma and discrimination against disabled people is still high in the communities. In this study, 49.4% of the interviewed participants believed/thought that they stigmatised and discriminated because of either being disabled or being HIV+. Related to this, 39% of the interviewed participants said that they have ever experienced stigma and discrimination either in the communities they live or when they were seeking health care at health facilities. Moreover, majority (90%) of the blind, 77.5% of the mentally challenged, 60.4% of the dumb and 58.8% of the physically challenged) of the disabled people considered that the existing IEC materials are not user-friendly (in terms of format and content) to the needs of different types of disabled people.

Conclusion: The descriptive findings from quantitative and qualitative data permit two major conclusions regarding barriers which affect disabled people from accessing HIV/AIDS services. Firstly, access and utilisation of HIV/AIDS services among disabled people is mainly affected by high levels of stigma and discrimination by community members and health care workers. Secondly, unfriendliness of the existing IEC intervention aggravates the marginalisation of disabled people from accessing HIV/AIDS prevention messages and information about treatment, care and support services related.

Background: Tanzania continues to work towards improving her health system in order to provide quality health services amid serious shortages of resources. A serious impediment towards attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially those related to HIV/AIDS, Reproductive and Child Health (RCH), is a shortage of health workers both in terms of numbers and skill-mix. While the problem of shortage is affecting the whole health care delivery system, we focus on the provision of HIV/AIDS and RCH services. The aim of this paper is to gather insights from health managers in Tanzania by exploring their views and experiences about task shifting practices in the delivery of HIV/AIDS and RCH services.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional exploratory study employing qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. It was conducted between June and August in 2012. The study involved interviews with health managers from national level, in nine regions and nine districts of Tanzania. The regions and districts were randomly selected. At the national, regional and district levels, key Informants were selected on the basis of their potential to provide relevant information on task-shifting from practice and their experiences in the fields of HRH, HIV/AIDS and RCH. Analysis of data from in-depth interviews was an ongoing field exercise. Analysis had followed the principles of grounded theory and employed multiple coding.

Results: Task shifting practices are widespread in all health facilities across all cadres of health workers in Tanzania. HIV/AIDS and RCH services are available both in urban and rural areas. However health managers were of the view that due to huge shortage of skilled health workers in rural areas with higher levels of task shifting practices, quality of HIV/AIDS and RCH services in rural areas were considered to be low compared to services provided in urban areas. In addition, it was revealed that task shifting was implemented informally due to absence of policies and guidelines needed to guide the implementation, training and mentorship, monitoring and Evaluation. These guidelines are needed in order to ensure continuity of access and quality of health care services. Finally the study found that in some ways and on top of the acute shortage of health workers, ineffective strategies for attracting and retaining skilled health workers which characterize many rural areas, contribute to increasing the magnitude of task shifting practices in the country.

Conclusion: The absence of policies and guidelines for guiding the implementation of task shifting in the country affect planning and harmonization of important aspects of task shifting such as training, mentorship and supportive supervision. If such policies and guidelines are to be formulated, they can set up a framework to regulate, monitor and evaluate task shifting practices. In the context of professional, regulatory and other barriers to policy change, there is a need to address these challenges before formalizing task shifting practices. However, it is encouraging to see that the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has committed itself and it is now engaging different stakeholders to ensure that task shifting policy and guidelines are in place by the year 2017.

Introduction: Anemia, especially iron deficiency anemia, is an important public health problem in developing countries. Pregnant women, owing to their high iron demand are vulnerable to anemia. Reportedly 52% of pregnant women in developing countries, in contrast to 20% in developed countries, are affected. It is associated with serious maternal as well as fetal complications, such as preterm delivery, low birth weight, perinatal mortality and in severe anemia maternal death. Iron supplements are considered the most effective way to prevent and treat IDA but it should be taken regularly.

Objectives: The objectives of the study are estimate the prevalence of anemia, iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia in addition to the associated factors among Arab pregnant women in Qatar.

Methodology: All eligible Arab women who attended the antenatal clinics of PHCCs during the data collection period were enrolled, a total of 450 women were interviewed using Arabic version questionnaire, hemoglobin and serum ferritin concentration were investigated to estimate anemia, ID and IDA.

Results: The prevalence of anemia was 27.1% (Hb<11g/dl), of which 74.5% were mildly anemic while 25.5% were moderately anemic. The prevalence of ID was 35.4% (SF <15µg/l) and the prevalence of IDA was 15.9%.

Anemia was significantly associated with gestational age, while ID was significantly associated with nationality, gestational age and inter-pregnancy space.

Conclusion & Recommendations: Anemia, ID and IDA during pregnancy are major problems as the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in the current study was 27.1% which is considered as moderate based on WHO classification. However, Prevalence of ID and IDA were high. This prevalence is similar to that found in other developing countries but still behind the status in the industrialized countries, so preventive strategies and interventions must be instituted. Revising Maternal Health Program at Primary Health Care level to address the problem of ID & IDA among pregnant women.