Seroprevalence and risk factors for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in pregnant women attending public sector tertiary care hospital in Hyderabad Sindh

Background and Objectives: Pakistan is among the countries having high prevalence of HCV infection in the population but there is dearth of proper epidemiological data regarding acquisition of HCV infection in the pregnant population. Our objective was to determine the seroprevalence of HCV antibodies in healthy pregnant women and to assess the potential risk factors for HCV infection in HCV positive subjects and in the control group.

Methodology: This cross sectional and comparative study was conducted from 1^st January to 31^st December 2010 in the Department of Obstetrics/Gynaecology Unit–I, Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad. Sera were collected from all admitted pregnant women and tested for HCV anti bodies using Elisa kits (Abbott, USA). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 statistical package.

Results: The seroprevalence of HCV among pregnant population was found to be 4.7%. HCV positive women were more likely to have a history of blood transfusion (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.26- 3.12), History of therapeutic injection use (OR 2.46, 95% CI 1.43-4.26), history of surgery (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.12-2.66) and history of sharing household products (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.14-2.87).

Conclusion: HCV seropositive pregnant women were more likely to have a history of blood transfusion, therapeutic injection use, surgery and sharing household items.

How successful are women's groups in health promotion and disease prevention? A synthesis of the literature and recommendations for developing countries

There is a general scarcitly of resources for delivery of services to the population in all social welfare and development sectors, with the health sector being no exception. In developing countries, lack of trained manpower, illiteracy and compliance issues make health care interventions even more complex. Various community-based projects have used women as a specific group for delivery of health care interventions. The objective of this paper was to review published studies that evaluated women's groups for the promotion of health and prevention of disease. A total of 8 studies were reviewed. Women's groups have proved to be a convenient and workable option for delivering health care interventions in several developing countries.