PSI

Pakistan, the sixth-most populous country in the world, sits at the crossroads of South and Central Asia and the Middle East. Nineteen percent of the country’s estimated 180 million citizens are malnourished, and the country only has one doctor for every 1,225 people. 1 The combination of an expansive population with limited access to health care and a state-run religion that promotes hierarchical divisions exacerbates Pakistan’s health challenges, which include reproductive health, safe water, HIV and tuberculosis (TB).

PSI and its Greenstar affiliate have been working in Pakistan since 1991, providing the most vulnerable communities with lifesaving messages and services needed to lead healthy lives. While PSI is not a disaster relief organization, we are committed to meeting the needs of these communities in the days, months and years that will follow the devastating floods that occurred in July 2010. Greenstar will continue to work with partners on the ground to provide sustainable, longterm solutions to the growing challenges faced by flood victims as the begins to rebuild.

Today, Greenstar provides 15 products and services through a network of 80,000 retail and pharmaceutical outlets and 8,000 franchised providers.

In 2008, Greenstar family planning efforts resulted in achieving 2.5 million CYPs, or 492,000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). 2 In addition, 10,000 cases of TB were successfully treated.

1. 1. Source: “Health Care in Pakistan to Expensive to Afford,” One World South Asia, February 2009.
2. 2. The DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Year) is a widely-used, credible metric that was first developed by the World Bank and is now routinely relied upon in the public health community.

Health Areas

Child Survival, Diarrheal Disease, HIV, Pneumonia, Reproductive Health

Health Impact

PSI/Pakistan estimates that in 2010, its products and services helped avert:

• 11,338 HIV & TB DALYs1
• 388,556 Reproductive Health DALYs
• 13,685 Child Survival DALYs
1. 1. Source: The DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Year) is a widely-used, credible metric that was first developed by the World Bank and is now routinely relied upon in the public health community.

Health Interventions

• Intrauterine Device (IUD)
• Voluntary Sterilization
• Sex Workers

Improving Health in Pakistan

Reproductive Health

Greenstar is the largest private sector partner of the Government of Pakistan in the population sector. It provides nearly 30% of all contraception in the country under the Sabz Sitara brand. Greenstar also markets family planning products and services, including condoms, injectables, oral contraceptives, IUDs and voluntary surgical contraception. A large network of healthcare providers – under the brand GoodLife – helps promote access to high-quality, affordable maternal, neonatal and child health services for low-income and underserved Pakistanis.

Safe Water/Child Survival

Greenstar markets the PUR water purification product along with education campaigns to promote safe water and hygiene among children under 5 and other vulnerable groups. PUR has proven to be of critical value for displaced people and others who are victims of natural disasters. Greenstar also markets an infant nutritional supplement called Baby Active, which prevents and treats iron deficiency anemia.

HIV

Greenstar is working with female sex workers in Hyderabad to meet their primary health care needs and reduce their risk of acquiring HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Tuberculosis

In 2005, Greenstar established a project to diagnose and treat people with TB in four major cities of Pakistan in collaboration with the National TB Control Programme. Since then, Greenstar has successfully helped treat more than 20,000 people with TB by training physicians on case management protocols, working with labs for high-quality diagnostics, implementing TB-DOTS at the household level and carrying out a robust community-based awareness campaign to encourage sick people to get screened.

Target Populations

Low income married women of reproductive age and sexually-active groups at risk of sexually-transmitted infection HIV/AIDS transmission

Latest News

Although PSI is a nonprofit organization, it continually measures its effect on diseases and evaluates outcomes from its programs. For example, PSI/Pakistan uses a metric called Disability Adjusted Life Year or DALY to measure health impact in the countries it serves. Monthly Health Impact Reports are available at http://www.psi.org/research/healthimpact.htm.

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