Sohail Agha
Biographic Data
| ID | 3930476 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sohail Agha |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sohail |
| FAMILY NAME | Agha |
| SIGNATURE | AGHA S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Global Health Vision and Africa Behavioral Science Network |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 26 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Norms shifting and behavior change in uncertain times
This commentary reflects on the current state of evidence on social norms interventions focused on improving health and economic outcomes for adolescent girls and young women in low- and middle-income countries. Drawing on a newly published global evidence review, it highlights how the field has evolved from narrow, individual-level strategies toward community-centered approaches. While conceptual clarity and implementation tools have improved, s…
Randomised experimental evaluation of a social media campaign to promote Covid-19 vaccination in Nigeria
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged public health and behaviour change programmes, and has led to the development of innovative interventions and research. In low -and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Nigeria, new strategies to promote vaccination, increase pro-vaccination social norms, and reduce vaccine hesitancy have been deployed through social media campaigns and evaluated using digital media pl…
Understanding how social norms affect modern contraceptive use
These findings suggest that social norms may affect contraceptive use in Nigeria through ability rather than motivation. In terms of programmatic implications, these finding suggest that public health interventions may be able to counter the negative effects of social norms that discourage contraceptive use by increasing women's ability to practice contraception
Does the antenatal care visit represent a missed opportunity for increasing contraceptive use in Pakistan? An analysis of household survey data from Sindh province
During the last two decades, the use of maternal health services has increased dramatically in Pakistan, with nearly 80% of Pakistani women making an antenatal care (ANC) visit during their pregnancy. Yet, this increase in use of modern health services has not translated into significant increases in the adoption of contraception. Even though Pakistan has had a national family planning programme and policies since the 1950s, contraceptive use has…
A profile of women at the highest risk of maternal death in Pakistan
Traditionally, health interventions implemented in Pakistan have been designed to increase the supply of maternal health services, but have not focused on reaching the poorest women or on providing high-quality services. Demand-side barriers to the utilization of health services are substantial in Pakistan, as are supply-side constraints to the provision of quality health care. This study uses data from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey …
Changes in the proportion of facility-based deliveries and related maternal health services among the poor in rural Jhang, Pakistan
Demand-side financing projects using vouchers can be an effective way of reducing inequities in institutional delivery
Determinants of institutional delivery in rural Jhang, Pakistan
The findings suggest that rural women are likely to respond to well-designed interventions that remove financial and physical barriers to accessing maternal health services and motivate women by emphasizing the benefits of these services. Interventions should specifically target women who have two or more living children, little formal education and are from the poorest households
Intentions to use contraceptives in Pakistan
These findings highlight the importance of having secondary target audiences such as mothers-in-law and husbands in family planning behavior change campaigns implemented in Pakistan. Campaigns that stress the importance of child spacing are likely to have an impact. Client perceptions of the quality of care are important determinants of intentions to use contraceptive methods in Pakistan. Client concerns that the IUD and sterilization procedures …
Impact of an Advertising Campaign on Condom Use in Urban Pakistan
This study describes an assessment of the impact on condom use in urban Pakistan of the second phase of an intensive condom advertising campaign conducted as part of a social marketing program. Between April and June 2009, advertisements for Touch condoms appeared on private television channels and on radio stations. To assess the impact of the campaign, a nationally representative panel survey of men married to women aged 15–49 was conducted, co…
The Impact of a Quality‐improvement Package on Reproductive Health Services Delivered by Private Providers in Uganda
This study assesses the effectiveness of a quality‐improvement (QI) package designed to enable small‐scale commercial reproductive health (RH) service providers to improve the services they offer. The study was conducted among midwives who are members of the Uganda Private Midwives Association. A pretest‐post‐test quasi‐experimental panel study design was used wherein midwife clinics were allocated to two experimental groups and one control group…
Changes in the Timing of Sexual Initiation Among Young Muslim and Christian Women in Nigeria
Changes in Perceptions of Quality Of, and Access To, Services Among Clients of a Fractional Franchise Network in Nepal
With declining levels of international donor funding for financing reproductive health programmes, developing country governments and international donors are looking towards private sector strategies to expand the supply of quality reproductive health services. One of the challenges of a health franchise is to improve the quality of services provided by independent private practitioners. Private providers are more likely to abide by the quality …
The Availability of Socially Marketed Condoms in Urban Tanzania, 1997–99
The objective of this study was to evaluate trends in the availability of socially marketed condoms in urban Tanzania, and to assess the effect of changes in the social marketing programme’s strategy for distributing condoms to retail outlets. Three retail outlet surveys conducted in urban Tanzania in 1996/97, 1998 and 1999 were analysed. Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) was used to determine changes in availability of condoms, after adjust…
Life‐circumstances, working conditions and HIV risk among street and nightclub‐based sex workers in Lusaka, Zambia
The principal objective of this study was to conduct formative research among sex workers in Lusaka, Zambia, to understand how sex workers' perceptions of their personal identity influences safer sex practices. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 sex workers in Lusaka, Zambia, including both nightclub and street-based sex workers. Findings indicate important differences of self perception and identity between nightclub-based sex workers an…
Sexual behaviour among truck drivers in Pakistan
This study examines the level of risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections among truck drivers and their helpers in Pakistan. Quantitative, self-reported, sexual behaviour data were collected from 300 randomly selected long-distance truck drivers and their helpers. Qualitative information was gathered through conversations with drivers. The findings show that multiple sexual partnerships with men and women are common among truckers. Aware…
Impact of Mass Media Campaigns on Intentions to Use the Female Condom in Tanzania
Is Low Income a Constraint to Contraceptive Use Among the Pakistani Poor?
This paper examines whether low income is a barrier to contraceptive use in Pakistan, a country in which economic conditions are deteriorating at a time when the private sector is becoming a more important supplier of contraception. Multivariate regression analysis performed using the Pakistan Contraceptive Demand Survey suggests that low income is a deterrent to modern contraceptive use in Pakistan. This is particularly the case for contraceptiv…
The determinants of infant mortality in Pakistan
The determinants of infant mortality in Pakistan
Impact of Mass Media Campaigns on Intentions to Use the Female Condom in Tanzania
Changes in the Timing of Sexual Initiation Among Young Muslim and Christian Women in Nigeria
A profile of women at the highest risk of maternal death in Pakistan
Traditionally, health interventions implemented in Pakistan have been designed to increase the supply of maternal health services, but have not focused on reaching the poorest women or on providing high-quality services. Demand-side barriers to the utilization of health services are substantial in Pakistan, as are supply-side constraints to the provision of quality health care. This study uses data from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey …
Impact of an Advertising Campaign on Condom Use in Urban Pakistan
This study describes an assessment of the impact on condom use in urban Pakistan of the second phase of an intensive condom advertising campaign conducted as part of a social marketing program. Between April and June 2009, advertisements for Touch condoms appeared on private television channels and on radio stations. To assess the impact of the campaign, a nationally representative panel survey of men married to women aged 15–49 was conducted, co…
Is Low Income a Constraint to Contraceptive Use Among the Pakistani Poor?
This paper examines whether low income is a barrier to contraceptive use in Pakistan, a country in which economic conditions are deteriorating at a time when the private sector is becoming a more important supplier of contraception. Multivariate regression analysis performed using the Pakistan Contraceptive Demand Survey suggests that low income is a deterrent to modern contraceptive use in Pakistan. This is particularly the case for contraceptiv…
The determinants of infant mortality in Pakistan
Sexual behaviour among truck drivers in Pakistan
This study examines the level of risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections among truck drivers and their helpers in Pakistan. Quantitative, self-reported, sexual behaviour data were collected from 300 randomly selected long-distance truck drivers and their helpers. Qualitative information was gathered through conversations with drivers. The findings show that multiple sexual partnerships with men and women are common among truckers. Aware…
Impact of Mass Media Campaigns on Intentions to Use the Female Condom in Tanzania
The Availability of Socially Marketed Condoms in Urban Tanzania, 1997–99
The objective of this study was to evaluate trends in the availability of socially marketed condoms in urban Tanzania, and to assess the effect of changes in the social marketing programme’s strategy for distributing condoms to retail outlets. Three retail outlet surveys conducted in urban Tanzania in 1996/97, 1998 and 1999 were analysed. Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) was used to determine changes in availability of condoms, after adjust…
Life‐circumstances, working conditions and HIV risk among street and nightclub‐based sex workers in Lusaka, Zambia
The principal objective of this study was to conduct formative research among sex workers in Lusaka, Zambia, to understand how sex workers' perceptions of their personal identity influences safer sex practices. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 sex workers in Lusaka, Zambia, including both nightclub and street-based sex workers. Findings indicate important differences of self perception and identity between nightclub-based sex workers an…
Changes in Perceptions of Quality Of, and Access To, Services Among Clients of a Fractional Franchise Network in Nepal
With declining levels of international donor funding for financing reproductive health programmes, developing country governments and international donors are looking towards private sector strategies to expand the supply of quality reproductive health services. One of the challenges of a health franchise is to improve the quality of services provided by independent private practitioners. Private providers are more likely to abide by the quality …
Changes in the Timing of Sexual Initiation Among Young Muslim and Christian Women in Nigeria
Intentions to use contraceptives in Pakistan
These findings highlight the importance of having secondary target audiences such as mothers-in-law and husbands in family planning behavior change campaigns implemented in Pakistan. Campaigns that stress the importance of child spacing are likely to have an impact. Client perceptions of the quality of care are important determinants of intentions to use contraceptive methods in Pakistan. Client concerns that the IUD and sterilization procedures …
Impact of an Advertising Campaign on Condom Use in Urban Pakistan
This study describes an assessment of the impact on condom use in urban Pakistan of the second phase of an intensive condom advertising campaign conducted as part of a social marketing program. Between April and June 2009, advertisements for Touch condoms appeared on private television channels and on radio stations. To assess the impact of the campaign, a nationally representative panel survey of men married to women aged 15–49 was conducted, co…
The Impact of a Quality‐improvement Package on Reproductive Health Services Delivered by Private Providers in Uganda
This study assesses the effectiveness of a quality‐improvement (QI) package designed to enable small‐scale commercial reproductive health (RH) service providers to improve the services they offer. The study was conducted among midwives who are members of the Uganda Private Midwives Association. A pretest‐post‐test quasi‐experimental panel study design was used wherein midwife clinics were allocated to two experimental groups and one control group…
Changes in the proportion of facility-based deliveries and related maternal health services among the poor in rural Jhang, Pakistan
Demand-side financing projects using vouchers can be an effective way of reducing inequities in institutional delivery
Determinants of institutional delivery in rural Jhang, Pakistan
The findings suggest that rural women are likely to respond to well-designed interventions that remove financial and physical barriers to accessing maternal health services and motivate women by emphasizing the benefits of these services. Interventions should specifically target women who have two or more living children, little formal education and are from the poorest households
A profile of women at the highest risk of maternal death in Pakistan
Traditionally, health interventions implemented in Pakistan have been designed to increase the supply of maternal health services, but have not focused on reaching the poorest women or on providing high-quality services. Demand-side barriers to the utilization of health services are substantial in Pakistan, as are supply-side constraints to the provision of quality health care. This study uses data from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey …
Does the antenatal care visit represent a missed opportunity for increasing contraceptive use in Pakistan? An analysis of household survey data from Sindh province
During the last two decades, the use of maternal health services has increased dramatically in Pakistan, with nearly 80% of Pakistani women making an antenatal care (ANC) visit during their pregnancy. Yet, this increase in use of modern health services has not translated into significant increases in the adoption of contraception. Even though Pakistan has had a national family planning programme and policies since the 1950s, contraceptive use has…
Understanding how social norms affect modern contraceptive use
These findings suggest that social norms may affect contraceptive use in Nigeria through ability rather than motivation. In terms of programmatic implications, these finding suggest that public health interventions may be able to counter the negative effects of social norms that discourage contraceptive use by increasing women's ability to practice contraception
Randomised experimental evaluation of a social media campaign to promote Covid-19 vaccination in Nigeria
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged public health and behaviour change programmes, and has led to the development of innovative interventions and research. In low -and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Nigeria, new strategies to promote vaccination, increase pro-vaccination social norms, and reduce vaccine hesitancy have been deployed through social media campaigns and evaluated using digital media pl…
Norms shifting and behavior change in uncertain times
This commentary reflects on the current state of evidence on social norms interventions focused on improving health and economic outcomes for adolescent girls and young women in low- and middle-income countries. Drawing on a newly published global evidence review, it highlights how the field has evolved from narrow, individual-level strategies toward community-centered approaches. While conceptual clarity and implementation tools have improved, s…
Medicine (16 works) · Environmental health (14 works) · Population (11 works) · Economic growth (10 works) · Developing country (9 works) · Economics (9 works) · Business (8 works) · Global Maternal and Child Health (8 works) · Family medicine (7 works) · Family planning (7 works)