This study aimed to explore knowledge, attitude, perceptions, and willingness regarding vaccination among university students in Pakistan. This cross-sectional study was carried out using an open online self-administered survey via Google Forms. The survey data were collected between the 15 to 30 of October 2022. A total of 946 respondents participated in the study, of which the majority were female (514, 54.3%). Most students belonged to a medical background, specifically pharmaceutical sciences. Most of the respondents did not know about monkeypox before 2022 (646, 68.3%). Regarding overall knowledge of monkeypox, most of the respondents had average knowledge (726, 76.7%), with very few having good knowledge (60, 6.3%). Regarding overall attitudes towards monkeypox, most of the respondents had neutral attitudes (648, 68.5%). There was a significant association between knowledge of Monkeypox with the type of academic degree (p < 0.001), type of discipline (p < 0.001), and region of respondents (p < 0.001). The willingness to vaccinate among the population was (67.7%). The current study pointed out that the overall knowledge of monkeypox was average in most respondents, with considerable knowledge gaps in most aspects. The overall attitude towards monkeypox was neutral. Further, the knowledge about monkeypox was strongly associated with academic degree, study discipline, and region of respondents. Our findings emphasize the need to raise public awareness by educating students on the monkeypox virus. This will improve adherence to preventative recommendations.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has badly affected the world with its devastating effects, including Sindh, Pakistan. A massive vaccination campaign against COVID-19 is considered one of the effective ways to curtail the spread of the disease. However, the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine is based on the general population’s knowledge, attitude, perception and willingness for vaccination. Therefore, a survey among the public in Sindh, Pakistan, was done to evaluate their knowledge, attitude, perception and willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination. Method: The online survey was conducted among the residents of Sindh, Pakistan, in July 2021 through a survey tool designed using Google Forms and sent to the population through various social media. Results: Of 926 study participants, 59.0% were male, and 68.6% were aged between 18 and 31 years. Higher percentages of responses were recorded from the Hyderabad division (37.5%), and 60.0% of respondents were graduates, with 34.8% of them in the private sector. The results showed that 36.4% of respondents had good knowledge, and 30.3% had a positive attitude toward COVID-19 vaccination. Almost 77% of respondents perceived that everyone should get vaccinated in the country and those health care workers on priority. A majority (80.8%) of respondents were willing to accept COVID-19 vaccination. Conclusion: Despite having insufficient knowledge and a low percentage of positive attitude public in Sindh are willing to be vaccinated. Based on this finding, more effort has to be done to promote vaccination among the public, especially among the less educated population.

Background: Globally, over a million people commit suicide every year. Although suicide rates are more in high-income countries, many countries do not report suicide cases regularly to the World Health Organization (WHO). Therefore, this study aimed to determine the factors associated with suicide and self-harm in Pakistan. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Peoples Medical College Hospital (PMCH) in Shaheed Benazirabad, Sindh, Pakistan, from July to December 2019. A total of 131 cases of suicide/self-harm were included using a convenience sampling technique. Data were collected on a predesigned questionnaire consisting of 14 close-ended questions. A chi-square test was used to determine the association between different categorical variables. Results: The majority of the subjects were males (53.4%), young adults aged between 16 and 30 years (69.5%), single (51.9%), and uneducated (57.3%). More than half (51.9%) of the subjects who attempted suicide or self-harm were unemployed. There was a significant association between education level (c2 =13.149, P = 0.001) and age groups (c2 = 15.554, P = 0.001) with health outcomes (suicide or self-harm) only. Moreover, gender (c2 = 20.776, P = 0.004), marital status (c2 = 69.047, P < 0.001), level of education (c2 = 63.144, P < 0.001), age groups (c2 = 69.848, P < 0.001), and employment status (c2 = 28.677, P = 0.012) were also associated with the reasons of suicide and self-harm. Conclusion: Our study concluded that mostly single, unemployed males with low literacy and with marital and family issues are determined as factors associated with a high risk of self-harm and suicide.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the characteristics of acute poisoning patients. Design: This was a prospective cohort study. Setting: The study was conducted for 1 year (1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024) at a tertiary care hospital in Sindh, Pakistan. Participants: From the patients who arrived at the emergency department due to poisoning, 1404 were registered and included in the study. Outcome measures: The data were collected on demographics (gender, age, residential area, education, employment) and poisoning characteristics, prehospital care, treatment, and services at the hospital, and treatment outcomes (survived and died). A χ ² test was used to find the association between independent variables and treatment outcomes. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to determine the predictors of death at a 95% CI. Results: The majority of patients were male (57.1%) and aged ≤30 years (77.6%). The poisoning was primarily intentional (67.5%), and pesticides (56.1%) were commonly involved in the poisoning. The patients were managed mainly by symptomatic treatment (98.1%) and gastric lavage (65.1%). Multivariate logistic regression indicated that delayed reporting (adjusted OR (AOR)=2.00; 95% CI 1.20 to 3.36; p=0.008) and non-existence of antidote (AOR=1.81; 95% CI 1.08 to 3.03; p=0.025) increased the odds of death while unintentional poisoning (AOR=0.27; 95% CI 0.14 to 0.51; p<0.001) and prolonged stay at hospital had a protective effect (AOR=0.19; 95% CI 0.10 to 0.38; p<0.001). Conclusion: The study found that the intentional pesticide poisoning within uneducated, young populations in rural areas was significantly prevalent, and early identification and management of severe cases and extended hospital stays influenced survival.