Iqbal H Shah
Biographic Data
| ID | 1446086 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Iqbal H Shah |
| GIVEN NAMES | Iqbal H |
| FAMILY NAME | Shah |
| SIGNATURE | SHAH I H |
| AFFILIATIONS | Harvard Global Health Institute |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3662-4128 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 41 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1986 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Integration of family planning and nutrition programmes in 64 WHO member states of Africa, Eastern Mediterranean and South-East Asia regions
BACKGROUND: Family planning (FP) and nutrition services are essential for the health and well-being of girls and women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), yet evidence on their existing and potential integration is limited. Also, little is known about relevant national programmes and the views of health officials. METHODS: An on-line survey of national health ministry officials in member states of WHO Regions for Africa (AFRO), Eastern M…
Opportunities and challenges for integrating family planning and nutrition policies and programmes in Burkina Faso
BACKGROUND: Despite known linkages between family planning (FP) and nutrition, there is little evidence on whether and how these services are integrated for women of reproductive age (WRA; aged 15-49 years) in Burkina Faso. This study aimed to obtain an overview of FP and nutrition policies and programmes in Burkina Faso to understand the value, current efforts, gaps and opportunities for integration. METHODS: In this mixed-methods study, we anal…
Opportunities and challenges in integrating family planning and nutrition services in Tanzania
BACKGROUND: Integration of family planning (FP) and nutrition is critical for improving maternal and child health, yet evidence on effective integration remains limited in Tanzania. This study explored challenges and opportunities for integrated service delivery in Tanzania. METHODS: A mixed-methods approach was used, combining analysis of the 2022 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (n=15, 254 women), a desk review of 25 national documents, a…
Leveraging connections between family planning and nutrition to improve the health of women
The global burden of malnutrition and unmet need for family planning (FP) among women of reproductive age remains high. Leveraging the epidemiological and programmatic links between FP and nutrition could help improve outcomes in both domains for women, with wider benefits to health and well-being. Here, we draw on findings from our recently concluded Family Planning and Nutrition Project, which synthesised epidemiological and programmatic linkag…
Human development disparities and their determinants evidence from household level data
Persistent inequality constrains human development by exacerbating disparities in health, education, and living standards across households and regions. This paper measures human development disparities (HDDs) and examines their determinants using Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey microdata from 38,405 households across 36 districts of Punjab, Pakistan. It constructs a novel household-level composite Human Development Index (HDI) combining asset,…
Abortion and unintended pregnancy in Pakistan
BACKGROUND: Despite induced abortion being highly legally restricted in Pakistan, studies in 2002 and 2012 showed that many women rely on abortion when faced with an unintended pregnancy. Following the 2012 study, concerted efforts were made to improve contraceptive services and to strengthen postabortion care. The availability and use of misoprostol also expanded in the past decade. Our primary objective was to provide new evidence on the rates …
The Impact of Student-Centered Teaching Strategies on Educational Attainment in Econometrics
This paper investigates the impact of student-centered teaching strategies (SCTS) on the educational attainment of econometrics students, at a university based in the UK. Theoretical foundations underlying the usage of SCTS suggest that SCTS is better for students’ long-term recall, comprehension, problem-solving abilities and interest in the subject. Yet, most existing studies have only examined short-run outcomes, and none in technical social-s…
Assessing Child Health Disparities
Around the world, undernutrition causes more than half of all deaths in children under 5 years of age. It also increases children's vulnerability to common diseases, impairs recovery, and stunts their physical and mental development. This paper investigates the state of child health and the assessment of health inequalities in children under 5 years, utilising Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys across 36 districts in Punjab, Pakistan. We suggest…
Does the use of HIV testing and counseling services influence condom use among low-paid female sex workers in Guangxi, China
HIV testing and counseling (HTC) are increasingly used in China during routine medical care visits to health facilities. However, limited data are available regarding the association between the utilization of HTC services and condom use among low-paid female sex workers (FSWs) who are at high risk of HIV infection but are hard to reach. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 794 low-paid FSWs in a city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in…
A Fresh Look at the Level of Unmet Need for Family Planning in the Postpartum Period, Its Causes and Program Implications
One central rationale for the promotion of family planning is the potential benefit to the health of mothers and children. The achievement of adequate spacing between pregnancies is a major pathway through which contraceptive practice can render benefits. Pregnancies conceived less than 20 months following a prior birth are at considerably higher risk of prematurity low birth weight fetal death and early neonatal death.1 The importance of this li…
Postpartum and Post‐Abortion Contraception
Contraception following delivery or an induced abortion reduces the risk of an early unintended pregnancy and its associated adverse health consequences. Unmet need for contraception during the postpartum period and contraceptive counseling and services following abortion have been the focus of efforts for the last several decades. This article provides an introduction to the more focused contributions that follow in this special issue. We discus…
Interventions to Improve Postpartum Family Planning in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries
This article provides programmatic guidance and identifies future research priorities through a review of interventions to improve postpartum contraception. Thirty‐five interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries were identified and classified according to timing and nature of administration: antenatal, postnatal, both ante‐ and postnatal, and integration with other services. With the exception of single, short antenatal interventions, the …
Unmet Need for Contraception
Unmet need for contraception has been a central indicator for monitoring the progress of family planning programs for 25 years. The purpose of this article is to provide a broad context for the more focused contributions that follow in this special issue. The validity and measurement of the concept of unmet need are discussed. We then present regional trends among married women since 1970. Major reductions in unmet need have been achieved, with t…
Induced abortion
Unsafe abortion differentials in 2008 by age and developing country region
Each year, nearly 22 million women worldwide have an unsafe abortion, almost all of which occur in developing countries. This paper estimates the incidence and rates of unsafe abortion by five-year age groups among women aged 15-44 years in developing country regions in 2008. Forty-one per cent of unsafe abortions in developing regions are among young women aged 15-24 years, 15% among those aged 15-19 years and 26% among those aged 20-24 years. A…
Induced abortion
Maternal Mortality and Maternity Care from 1990 to 2005
Maternal mortality continues to be the major cause of death among women of reproductive age in many countries. Data from published studies and Demographic and Health Surveys show that gains in reducing maternal mortality between 1990 and 2005 have been modest overall. In 2005, there were about 536,000 maternal deaths, and the maternal mortality ratio was estimated at 400 per 100,000 live births, compared to 430 in 1990. Noteworthy declines took p…
Unsafe abortion
Trends in Reproductive Behavior among Young Single Women in Colombia and Peru
Using “calendar” data for single women aged 15-24 from successive Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in Colombia and Peru during the 1990s, we document trends, year by year, in sexual activity, the use of contraceptives, and subsequent reproductive outcomes. We provide evidence of the important and hitherto largely untapped potential of DHS calendar data to draw complete sexual and reproductive profiles when data from various surveys …
Contraceptive transition in Asia
Adapting Fertility Exposure Analysis to the Study of Fertility Change
Fertility exposure analysis was developed recently by Hobcraft and Little in order to evaluate the relative importance of the various proximate determinants upon levels of current fertility. In the present paper we extend the analysis to the study of changes in fertility between two cross-sectional surveys. We show how to express fertility change as a product of terms which represent changes in the proximate determinants. The model of change is a…
Fertility in Pakistan during the 1970s
A survey conducted in 1975, as part of the World Fertility Survey programme, provided evidence that fertility began to decline in Pakistan during the early 1970s. Because of the low level of contraceptive use recorded in that survey, the fertility decline was attributed to delayed marriage. However, a second and similar survey conducted approximately 5 years later showed almost exactly the same pattern of very recent decline, and indeed a reducti…
Proportional hazards models for current status data
Unmet Need for Contraception
Unmet need for contraception has been a central indicator for monitoring the progress of family planning programs for 25 years. The purpose of this article is to provide a broad context for the more focused contributions that follow in this special issue. The validity and measurement of the concept of unmet need are discussed. We then present regional trends among married women since 1970. Major reductions in unmet need have been achieved, with t…
Unsafe abortion differentials in 2008 by age and developing country region
Each year, nearly 22 million women worldwide have an unsafe abortion, almost all of which occur in developing countries. This paper estimates the incidence and rates of unsafe abortion by five-year age groups among women aged 15-44 years in developing country regions in 2008. Forty-one per cent of unsafe abortions in developing regions are among young women aged 15-24 years, 15% among those aged 15-19 years and 26% among those aged 20-24 years. A…
Proportional hazards models for current status data
Interventions to Improve Postpartum Family Planning in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries
This article provides programmatic guidance and identifies future research priorities through a review of interventions to improve postpartum contraception. Thirty‐five interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries were identified and classified according to timing and nature of administration: antenatal, postnatal, both ante‐ and postnatal, and integration with other services. With the exception of single, short antenatal interventions, the …
Maternal Mortality and Maternity Care from 1990 to 2005
Maternal mortality continues to be the major cause of death among women of reproductive age in many countries. Data from published studies and Demographic and Health Surveys show that gains in reducing maternal mortality between 1990 and 2005 have been modest overall. In 2005, there were about 536,000 maternal deaths, and the maternal mortality ratio was estimated at 400 per 100,000 live births, compared to 430 in 1990. Noteworthy declines took p…
Adapting Fertility Exposure Analysis to the Study of Fertility Change
Fertility exposure analysis was developed recently by Hobcraft and Little in order to evaluate the relative importance of the various proximate determinants upon levels of current fertility. In the present paper we extend the analysis to the study of changes in fertility between two cross-sectional surveys. We show how to express fertility change as a product of terms which represent changes in the proximate determinants. The model of change is a…
Fertility in Pakistan during the 1970s
A survey conducted in 1975, as part of the World Fertility Survey programme, provided evidence that fertility began to decline in Pakistan during the early 1970s. Because of the low level of contraceptive use recorded in that survey, the fertility decline was attributed to delayed marriage. However, a second and similar survey conducted approximately 5 years later showed almost exactly the same pattern of very recent decline, and indeed a reducti…
Proportional hazards models for current status data
Adapting Fertility Exposure Analysis to the Study of Fertility Change
Fertility exposure analysis was developed recently by Hobcraft and Little in order to evaluate the relative importance of the various proximate determinants upon levels of current fertility. In the present paper we extend the analysis to the study of changes in fertility between two cross-sectional surveys. We show how to express fertility change as a product of terms which represent changes in the proximate determinants. The model of change is a…
Contraceptive transition in Asia
Trends in Reproductive Behavior among Young Single Women in Colombia and Peru
Using “calendar” data for single women aged 15-24 from successive Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in Colombia and Peru during the 1990s, we document trends, year by year, in sexual activity, the use of contraceptives, and subsequent reproductive outcomes. We provide evidence of the important and hitherto largely untapped potential of DHS calendar data to draw complete sexual and reproductive profiles when data from various surveys …
Unsafe abortion
Induced abortion
Maternal Mortality and Maternity Care from 1990 to 2005
Maternal mortality continues to be the major cause of death among women of reproductive age in many countries. Data from published studies and Demographic and Health Surveys show that gains in reducing maternal mortality between 1990 and 2005 have been modest overall. In 2005, there were about 536,000 maternal deaths, and the maternal mortality ratio was estimated at 400 per 100,000 live births, compared to 430 in 1990. Noteworthy declines took p…
Induced abortion
Unsafe abortion differentials in 2008 by age and developing country region
Each year, nearly 22 million women worldwide have an unsafe abortion, almost all of which occur in developing countries. This paper estimates the incidence and rates of unsafe abortion by five-year age groups among women aged 15-44 years in developing country regions in 2008. Forty-one per cent of unsafe abortions in developing regions are among young women aged 15-24 years, 15% among those aged 15-19 years and 26% among those aged 20-24 years. A…
Unmet Need for Contraception
Unmet need for contraception has been a central indicator for monitoring the progress of family planning programs for 25 years. The purpose of this article is to provide a broad context for the more focused contributions that follow in this special issue. The validity and measurement of the concept of unmet need are discussed. We then present regional trends among married women since 1970. Major reductions in unmet need have been achieved, with t…
A Fresh Look at the Level of Unmet Need for Family Planning in the Postpartum Period, Its Causes and Program Implications
One central rationale for the promotion of family planning is the potential benefit to the health of mothers and children. The achievement of adequate spacing between pregnancies is a major pathway through which contraceptive practice can render benefits. Pregnancies conceived less than 20 months following a prior birth are at considerably higher risk of prematurity low birth weight fetal death and early neonatal death.1 The importance of this li…
Postpartum and Post‐Abortion Contraception
Contraception following delivery or an induced abortion reduces the risk of an early unintended pregnancy and its associated adverse health consequences. Unmet need for contraception during the postpartum period and contraceptive counseling and services following abortion have been the focus of efforts for the last several decades. This article provides an introduction to the more focused contributions that follow in this special issue. We discus…
Interventions to Improve Postpartum Family Planning in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries
This article provides programmatic guidance and identifies future research priorities through a review of interventions to improve postpartum contraception. Thirty‐five interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries were identified and classified according to timing and nature of administration: antenatal, postnatal, both ante‐ and postnatal, and integration with other services. With the exception of single, short antenatal interventions, the …
Does the use of HIV testing and counseling services influence condom use among low-paid female sex workers in Guangxi, China
HIV testing and counseling (HTC) are increasingly used in China during routine medical care visits to health facilities. However, limited data are available regarding the association between the utilization of HTC services and condom use among low-paid female sex workers (FSWs) who are at high risk of HIV infection but are hard to reach. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 794 low-paid FSWs in a city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in…
The Impact of Student-Centered Teaching Strategies on Educational Attainment in Econometrics
This paper investigates the impact of student-centered teaching strategies (SCTS) on the educational attainment of econometrics students, at a university based in the UK. Theoretical foundations underlying the usage of SCTS suggest that SCTS is better for students’ long-term recall, comprehension, problem-solving abilities and interest in the subject. Yet, most existing studies have only examined short-run outcomes, and none in technical social-s…
Assessing Child Health Disparities
Around the world, undernutrition causes more than half of all deaths in children under 5 years of age. It also increases children's vulnerability to common diseases, impairs recovery, and stunts their physical and mental development. This paper investigates the state of child health and the assessment of health inequalities in children under 5 years, utilising Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys across 36 districts in Punjab, Pakistan. We suggest…
Abortion and unintended pregnancy in Pakistan
BACKGROUND: Despite induced abortion being highly legally restricted in Pakistan, studies in 2002 and 2012 showed that many women rely on abortion when faced with an unintended pregnancy. Following the 2012 study, concerted efforts were made to improve contraceptive services and to strengthen postabortion care. The availability and use of misoprostol also expanded in the past decade. Our primary objective was to provide new evidence on the rates …
Integration of family planning and nutrition programmes in 64 WHO member states of Africa, Eastern Mediterranean and South-East Asia regions
BACKGROUND: Family planning (FP) and nutrition services are essential for the health and well-being of girls and women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), yet evidence on their existing and potential integration is limited. Also, little is known about relevant national programmes and the views of health officials. METHODS: An on-line survey of national health ministry officials in member states of WHO Regions for Africa (AFRO), Eastern M…
Opportunities and challenges for integrating family planning and nutrition policies and programmes in Burkina Faso
BACKGROUND: Despite known linkages between family planning (FP) and nutrition, there is little evidence on whether and how these services are integrated for women of reproductive age (WRA; aged 15-49 years) in Burkina Faso. This study aimed to obtain an overview of FP and nutrition policies and programmes in Burkina Faso to understand the value, current efforts, gaps and opportunities for integration. METHODS: In this mixed-methods study, we anal…
Opportunities and challenges in integrating family planning and nutrition services in Tanzania
BACKGROUND: Integration of family planning (FP) and nutrition is critical for improving maternal and child health, yet evidence on effective integration remains limited in Tanzania. This study explored challenges and opportunities for integrated service delivery in Tanzania. METHODS: A mixed-methods approach was used, combining analysis of the 2022 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (n=15, 254 women), a desk review of 25 national documents, a…
Leveraging connections between family planning and nutrition to improve the health of women
The global burden of malnutrition and unmet need for family planning (FP) among women of reproductive age remains high. Leveraging the epidemiological and programmatic links between FP and nutrition could help improve outcomes in both domains for women, with wider benefits to health and well-being. Here, we draw on findings from our recently concluded Family Planning and Nutrition Project, which synthesised epidemiological and programmatic linkag…
Human development disparities and their determinants evidence from household level data
Persistent inequality constrains human development by exacerbating disparities in health, education, and living standards across households and regions. This paper measures human development disparities (HDDs) and examines their determinants using Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey microdata from 38,405 households across 36 districts of Punjab, Pakistan. It constructs a novel household-level composite Human Development Index (HDI) combining asset,…
Global Maternal and Child Health (17 works) · Medicine (14 works) · Family planning (12 works) · Population (12 works) · Demography (11 works) · Reproductive Health and Contraception (11 works) · Environmental health (10 works) · Economic growth (9 works) · Economics (8 works) · Sociology (8 works)