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Background and Objectives: Vaccine hesitancy is a big obstacle for vaccination programs, as is anticipated for the COVID-19 vaccination program, resulting in low uptake of vaccines thereby hindering the process of reaching herd immunity. Bearing this in mind the current study was aimed to explore the determinants of vaccine hesitancy amongst the Pakistani population., Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out from November 2020 to March 2021. The conceptual framework of the study was based on the 3Cs (Confidence, Convenience, Complacency) model. The google-forms-based questionnaire was disseminated amongst the general population. Data collected were entered into SPSS version 26 and analyzed., Results: Of the 421 participants, 68.4% were women. Non-healthcare workers were 55.8% of respondents. Of vaccine-hesitant individuals, 26.13% reported they were very unlikely to get vaccinated. Perception of COVID-19 vaccine was explored, which revealed 12.6% of individuals agreed the vaccine was not safe as it came out too fast, 50.6% were worried about experiencing side-effects, 18% believed the vaccine will not offer protection and 5.9% believed the vaccine would cause death. Low Practice of standard operating procedure (SOP) in non-Healthcare workers was the strongest contributor to vaccine hesitancy (OR: 5.338, p = 0.040, 95% CI: 1.082-26.330) followed by High complacency (p = 0.026) and Moderate Complacency (OR: 0.212, p = 0.007, 95% CI: 0.069-0.654) towards COVID-19 vaccination. In Healthcare workers the strongest contributor to vaccine hesitancy was having a Moderate Confidence (OR: 0.323, p = 0.042, 95% CI: 0.109-0.958) in the vaccine followed by Moderate Convenience (OR: 0.304, p = 0.049, 95% CI: 0.093-0.993) for vaccination., Conclusion: Campaigning and communication strategies to reaffirm confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine and educating the general population about the vaccine could lead to increased perception of vaccine safety and effectiveness thereby restoring confidence in vaccine and decreasing vaccine hesitancy. Likewise, working to increase vaccine convenience and decreasing complacency towards the COVID-19 vaccine would translate into high vaccine uptake., Mesh Words: Vaccine hesitancy; vaccination intention, COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine confidence, complacency, convenience., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Sheikh et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background/aim: The objective was to evaluate the sero-prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and IgM antibodies to hepatitis core antigen in Balochistan Province of Pakistan., Design of the Study: A cross-sectional, population-based study. Place and time of the study: The study was conducted in Balochistan from 1 st January 2004 to 31 st December, 2008. The screening areas included Barkhan, Eashani, Khuzdar, Kodi Zikriani, Kohlu, Rakhni and Turbat., Materials and Methods: A total of 15,260 subjects were enrolled; 11,900 (78%) agreed to undergo screening. Fresh serum samples were tested for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen and IgM antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen., Results: HBsAg was detected in 1166 (9.8%) while anti-HBc IgM was found in 117 (10.0%). HBsAg positivity was seen in 875 (12.7%) males and 291 (5.8%) females. The prevalence of hepatitis B in Balochistan varies from 3.3% in Khuzdar to 17.0% in Kodi Zikriani., Conclusions: It is utmost important to educate the public, to take proper measures to control the spread of infection and vaccination in order to interrupt transmission of this threatening public health problem in Balochistan province of Pakistan.

Objective: To determine the peak time of outbreak of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) and to highlight the disease-specific areas in the Balochistan province of Pakistan., Design: A hospital-based case-series study., Place and Duration: A five-year study was conducted by the Department of Pathology in collaboration with the Department of Medicine, Sandeman Provincial Teaching Hospital, Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan, from 1 March 1997 to 28 February 2002., Patients and Methods: A total of 135 cases were included in the study based on a high index of suspicion of CCHF. The mean age was 33.5+/-18.7 years. Two sets of blood samples were drawn on admission; one set was sent for urgent routine investigations while the other was sent to CDC, Atlanta, USA, for confirmation., Results: The study showed that CCHF was more common between March and May and again, between August and October, depicting a bi-annual surge. Out of 135 suspected cases, 83 (61.4%) were confirmed to have CCHF and were given platelet concentrate and ribavirin. It ws observed that CCHF was more common in specific areas of the province., Conclusions: It is essential to raise the level of knowledge regarding CCHF, especially in disease-specific areas, focussing on the peak outbreak periods.

Background: The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) among healthcare workers at a tertiary care referral hospital in Balochistan., Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in April-May 2000 among the doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians of Sandeman Provincial Teaching Hospital, Quetta, Balochistan. A questionnaire was formulated which included the demographic data of the respondents and their knowledge, attitude and practices towards CCHF., Results: A total of 235 healthcare personnel including 150 (63.8%) doctors, 50 (21.2%) nurses and 35 (15%) laboratory technicians were interviewed during the survey. Seventy percent (164) of the subjects were males while 30% (71) were females. One fifty-five (66%) of the total respondents claimed to know what CCHF was. By designation 120 (80%) of doctors, 30 (60%) of nurses and 5 (14%) of laboratory technicians had a prior knowledge about CCHF. One twenty (80%) of the doctors knew the most common presentations of CCHF. All categories of the respondents had a poor knowledge regarding the burial procedure of dead patients., Conclusion: This study was an indicator of the poor level of knowledge of healthcare workers regarding the clinical presentations and the modes of spread of CCHF. It is the dire need of the time to educate the healthcare workers about the common preventive measures of this disease, which has resulted in the loss of several important lives in the past in this region.

Background: This study was carried out to determine the frequency of false--positive results during serological screening for the presence of antibodies against HIV-1/2 in blood banks., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January--December 1999 as screening of voluntary non-remunerated blood donor pool for HIV in the public sector blood banks, in all the six divisions of Balochistan. 5000 subjects were screened for the presence of antibodies against HIV-1/2. The subjects were all males between the age group 18-50 years, attending the public sector blood banks as non-remunerated blood donors. Strategy I was adopted for initial screening, Strategy II and III were observed in retesting on ELISA, as recommended by UNAIDS/WHO for blood banks., Results: Out of 5000 subjects, 48 (0.96%) were positive for HIV-1/2 on Strategy I, 37 (77% of 48) met the criteria of false positive, while only 11 (0.22% of 5000) were found to be true positive., Conclusion: In blood banks, screening for HIV antibodies is performed for intervention of the positive donations. UNAIDS/WHO Strategy-I is observed on a smaller workload blood banks where donations are less than 20 per day. A high rate of false positive results in serological HIV screening on Strategy-I depicts that the test is highly sensitive but not highly specific. Labeling someone with HIV positive, when actually he is not, forces the health authorities to find other ways of HIV screening in blood banks, which should be much more specific and therefore reliable.

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the knowledge, attitude, behaviour and practices regarding HIV/AIDS among the fishermen community in the coastal areas of Balochistan., Design: A cross-sectional survey., Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted between September-October 2000 at Gidani, a coastal area of Balochistan., Patients and Methods: About 1000 fishermen were interviewed to assess the knowledge, attitude, behaviour and practices regarding HIV/AIDS. It was a community based survey involving the key informants, interviews and focused group discussions., Results: There was little awareness regarding causes and prevention of HIV/AIDS in the community. While healthcare providers believe that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is high, the community did not consider themselves at risk. Adolescents with any sexual health problems visit hakims and quacks. The community was aware of the etiology and some of the risk factors associated with AIDS, most probably due to the recent public health campaigns against the disease., Conclusion: Considering the suspected high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the relative lack of knowledge, it is imperative that a public health intervention program be initiated in these areas. This must include educating not only the community but also the health workers. The Government's initiative to train community workers in reproductive health is a step in the right direction.