Browsing by Person "Hanifi, Syed Manzoor Ahmed"

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Assessment of socioeconomic and health vulnerability among urban slum dwellers in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study
(BioMed Central, 2024-10-24) Hasan, Md Zahid; Rabbani, Md Golam; Ahmed, Mohammad Wahid; Mehdi, Gazi Golam; Tisha, Khadija Islam; Reidpath, Daniel; Hanifi, Syed Manzoor Ahmed; Mahmood, Shehrin Shaila
Background: Bangladesh is rapidly urbanizing and approximately half of its urban population resides in deprived slums with limited access to basic needs. However, there is a dearth of information on vulnerability levels among slum dwellers. We aimed to assess the level of vulnerability within and between slums via various socioeconomic and health indicators. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 810 randomly selected households was conducted in two purposively selected slums, Korail and Shyampur, in Dhaka from November to December 2021. Data was collected on various indicators, including demographics, education, employment, access to utility, and healthcare services. Principal component factor analysis was employed to identify the key indicators to construct the socioeconomic and health vulnerability index for the urban slums of Bangladesh (SEHVI-BD). Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin, Bartlett’s test, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient test were used to assess indicators’ suitability. The selected indicators were used to generate an index on a scale of 100, with a higher index value indicating a higher level of vulnerability. The estimated scores were used to categorize the vulnerability status into three levels: mild, moderate, and severe vulnerability. The Mann-Whitney-U test and Kruskal-Wallis test were applied between the generated index and other socioeconomic variables to validate the relationship. Results: A total of 27 socioeconomic and health indicators were identified that explained 60% of the variance. The indicators were then grouped into six domains on the basis of their relevance. The prevalence of severe vulnerability in the Korail slum was approximately 9% and moderate vulnerability was 30% whereas these values were approximately 58% and 37%, respectively, in the Shyampur slum. The difference in the vulnerability level between the two slums was also evident across the domains. Households in the poorest wealth quintile, with lower education levels of household heads, and having irregular income experienced higher levels of vulnerability. Conclusions: The SEHVI-BD offers a critical tool for policymakers to identify and address vulnerabilities, facilitating more targeted public health interventions in urban Bangladesh and similar low-income settings. This study further emphasizes the importance of integrating comprehensive vulnerability assessments into public health policies to reduce inequalities and improve well-being, especially for the urban marginalized slum population.
Health system impact of COVID-19 on urban slum population of Bangladesh: a mixed-method rapid assessment study
(BMJ Publishing Group, 2022-02-23) Mahmood, Shehrin Shaila; Hasan, Md. Zahid; Hasan, A M Rumayan; Rabbani, Md. Golam; Begum, Farzana; Yousuf, Tariq Bin; Hanifi, Syed Manzoor Ahmed; Reidpath, Daniel; Rasheed, Sabrina
Design Setting and participants A cross-sectional survey among 476 households was conducted during October–December 2020 in five selected urban slums of Dhaka North, Dhaka South and Gazipur City Corporation. In-depth interviews with purposively selected 22 slum dwellers and key informant interviews with 16 local healthcare providers and four policymakers and technical experts were also conducted. Outcome measures Percentage of people suffering from general illness, percentage of people suffering from chronic illness, percentage of people seeking healthcare, percentage of people seeking maternal care, health system challenges resulting from COVID-19. Results About 12% of members suffered from general illness and 25% reported chronic illness. Over 80% sought healthcare and the majority sought care from informal healthcare providers. 39% of the recently delivered women sought healthcare in 3 months preceding the survey. An overall reduction in healthcare use was reported during the lockdown period compared with prepandemic time. Mismanagement and inefficient use of resources were reported as challenges of health financing during the pandemic. Health information sharing was inadequate at the urban slums, resulting from the lack of community and stakeholder engagement (51% received COVID-19-related information, 49% of respondents knew about the national hotline number for COVID-19 treatment). Shortage of human resources for health was reported to be acute during the pandemic, resulting from the shortage of specialist doctors and uneven distribution of health workforce. COVID-19 test was inadequate due to the lack of adequate test facilities and stigma associated with COVID-19. Lack of strong leadership and stakeholder engagement was seen as the barriers to effective pandemic management. Conclusion The findings of the current study are expected to support the government in tailoring interventions and allocating resources more efficiently and timely during a pandemic.
Insights Into Excess Mortality During the First Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic From a Rural, Demographic Surveillance Site in Bangladesh
(Frontiers Media, 2021-07-29) Hanifi, Syed Manzoor Ahmed; Alam, Sayed Saidul; Shuma, Sanjida Siddiqua; Reidpath, Daniel
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread globally, and the government of each affected country is publishing the number of deaths every day. This official figure is an underestimate as it excludes anybody who did not die in a hospital, who did not test positive, who had a false result, or those who recovered on their own without a test. Objective: This study aimed to measure the community level excess mortality using health and demographic surveillance in a rural area of Bangladesh. Method: The study was conducted in Matlab, in a rural area of Bangladesh, with a Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) covering a population of 239,030 individuals living in 54,823 households in 142 villages. We examined the mortality in January-April from 2015 to 2020 and compared the mortality in 2020 with the historical trend of 2015–2019. Between 2015 and 2020, we followed 276,868 people until migration or death, whichever occurred first. We analyzed mortality using crude mortality rate ratio (MRR) and adjusted MRR (aMRR) from a Cox proportional hazard model. Mortality was analyzed according to age, sex, and period. Results: During follow-up, 3,197 people died. The mortality rate per 1,000 person-years increased from 10 in 2019 to 12 in 2020. Excess mortality was observed among the elderly population (aged 65 years and above). The elderly mortality rate per 1,000 person-years increased from 80 in 2019 to 110 in 2020, and the aMRR was 1.40 (95% CI: 1.19–1.64). Although an increasing tendency in mortality was observed between 2015 and 2019, it was statistically insignificant. Conclusions: The study reported a 28% increase in excess deaths among the elderly population during the first months of the pandemic. This all-cause mortality estimation at the community level will urge policymakers, public health professionals, and researchers to further investigate the causes of death and the underlying reasons for excess deaths in the older age-group.
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge of women: a cross-sectional study among the women experienced abortion in urban slums, Dhaka, Bangladesh
(BioMed Central, 2025-05-10) Billah, Md Arif; Koly, Kamrun Nahar; Begum, Farzana; Naima, Shakera; Sultana, Quazi Suraiya; Sarker, Tithi Rani; Mustary, Elvina; Haque, Md. Mahbubul; Reidpath, Daniel; Hanifi, Syed Manzoor Ahmed
Background: Women in urban slums are particularly susceptible due to a lack of knowledge about sexual and reproductive health (SRH), and abortion is frequently performed. Our study investigates the level and predictors of SRH knowledge among the reproductive-aged women who have had abortions and lived in urban slums in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Methods: We adopted a cross-sectional survey among the reproductive-aged women who experienced any kind of abortion from July 2020 to January 2022 living in the UHDSS sites, applying a predefined interviewer-assisted survey questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (i.e., mean, standard error, and 95% confidence interval (CI)) for continuous and percentage distribution for categorical variables. Bi-variate analysis was used to examine for associations. After checking the assumptions, multinomial regression analysis was used to confirm the determinants with 95% CIs. Results: A total of 338 women participated (221 spontaneous abortions and 117 induced abortions) with an average age of 26.59 ± 0.355, age at first marriage of 16.69 ± 0.173, and marital length of 9.45 ± 0.386. Except for the use of emergency contraceptives (32%), many women correctly identified condom effectiveness for preventing pregnancy (89%), STDs and HIV/AIDS prevention (79–80%), and abortion (98%). About 34 to 64% of them experienced stigmas attached to sexually explicit items. Few of them knew about abortion complications (9 to 57%), with the exception of bleeding associated with abortion (91.7%). Overall, 3 out of 4 women lacked sufficient SRH knowledge, with a mean score of 58.28 (95% CI: 56.70, 59.87), which was slightly higher for women who had spontaneous abortions 58.90 (95% CI: 57.02, 60.78) and lower for women who had induced abortions 57.69 (95% CI: 54.94, 60.45). Women aged 20–29 and 30 + years had high level of SRH knowledge than those of under 20 years. Women with higher education, longer marriages, and who availed post abortion care had high level of SRH knowledge than respective counterparts. However, employed slum women other than garment workers had lower levels of SRH knowledge than housewives. Conclusion: Our findings can be used in the abortion policies and strategies for vulnerable women and we recommend an intervention to increase awareness and knowledge on SRH, which is essential for those women to achieve the maternal reproductive health parameters.