Years In Pakistan Research Articles

Crimean‐Congo hemorrhagic fever in Pakistan

Crimean-Congo virus, the causative agent of Crimean-Congo Virus Fever (CCVF) is endemic in Pakistan. Cases are documented sporadically ever year, mostly at and around the time of Eid-ul-Adha, an Islamic festival, celebrated on day 10 through 13 of the 12th month of each lunar calendar year. At this time of the year in Pakistan, livestock are brought down to the urban areas from the rural parts of the country. Animals are housed in open spaces and private houses until they are slaughtered during the 3 days of Eid-ul-Adha. This allows the CCHF virus, which is carried by a tick that inhabits the animal hide, to be transmitted through unprotected contact with live animals as well as through contact with animal blood subsequent to its slaughter. In this report, a typical case of CCVF is described that was encountered in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. A number of issues pertaining to the management of recurrent outbreaks of CCVF in the country are discussed.

Visual Function and Quality of Life Among Visually Impaired and Cataract Operated Adults. The Pakistan National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey

Purpose: To assess visual functioning and quality of life in a representative sample of normally sighted, visually impaired and cataract operated individuals aged ≥ 30 years in Pakistan. Methods: As part of the Pakistan National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey, visual functioning (VF) and quality of life (QOL) questionnaires were administered to participants with presenting visual acuity less than 6/60 in either eye, aphakes/pseudophakes and a phakic sample with normal acuity (≥ 6/12 both eyes). Results: Of 16,507 adults included in the survey, 2329 questionnaires were administered. There were strong correlations between visual acuity and VF/QOL. Mean VF and median QOL scores in normally sighted phakic individuals were 81.1 and 88.9, respectively, but were only 34.8 and 64.9 in blind unoperated individuals. In the cataract operated population overall mean VF and median QOL scores were 49.3 and 75.0. Both VF and QOL scores were lower in operated individuals than unoperated individuals (p < 0.001). Among operated individuals, rural dwelling and illiteracy were associated with lower VF and QOL scores (p all < 0.02). Although in multivariable analysis bilateral pseudophakes had similar VF scores to bilateral aphakes they had significantly better QOL scores (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Cataract surgery in Pakistan has not led to VF and QOL scores equivalent to those in unoperated individuals with the same levels of visual acuity. The higher proportion of intraocular lens surgery in recent years is likely to improve QOL following cataract surgery. Further focus is needed on rural and illiterate populations, to ensure that they achieve comparable VF/QOL outcomes following surgery.

Early years education in Pakistan: trends, issues and strategies

This paper outlines the programme of provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) which is currently urgently needed to support the development of children from birth to eight years in Pakistan. It begins by emphasizing the global recognition of the importance of such provision, before describing the recent history of ECEC in Pakistan, and the current situation. A case study from the pre‐primary (katchi) class in a typical government school is used to illustrate the urgent need for initiatives and action to implement both Education for All (EFA) commitments and government policy for ECEC. Impediments to the implementation of the policy, including financial, structural, organizational and cultural barriers are identified, and recommendations are made for overcoming these obstacles. From a human capital perspective, it is argued that an ECEC programme will benefit the country and its economy, as well as the individual children who will be enabled to become active and effective contributors to society.

Self-rated health in Pakistan: results of a national health survey

BackgroundSelf-rated health (SRH) is a robust predictor of mortality. In UK, migrants of South Asian descent, compared to native Caucasian populations, have substantially poorer SRH. Despite its validation among migrant South Asian populations and its popularity in developed countries as a useful public health tool, the SRH scale has not been used at a population level in countries in South Asia. We determined the prevalence of and risk factors for poor/fair SRH among individuals aged ≥15 years in Pakistan (n = 9442).MethodsThe National Health Survey of Pakistan was a cross-sectional population-based survey, conducted between 1990 and 1994, of 18 135 individuals aged 6 months and above; 9442 of them were aged ≥15 years. Our main outcome was SRH which was assessed using the question: "Would you say your health in general is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?" SRH was dichotomized into poor/fair, and good (excellent, very good, or good).ResultsOverall 65.1% respondents – 51.3 % men vs. 77.2 % women – rated their health as poor/fair. We found a significant interaction between sex and age (p < 0.0001). The interaction was due to the gender differences only in the ages 15–19 years, whereas poor/fair SRH at all older ages was more prevalent among women and increased at the same rate as it did among men. We also found province of dwelling, low or middle SES, literacy, rural dwelling and current tobacco use to be independently associated with poor/fair SRH.ConclusionThis is the first study reporting on poor/fair SRH at a population-level in a South Asian country. The prevalence of poor/fair health in Pakistan, especially amongst women, is one of the worst ever reported, warranting immediate attention. Further research is needed to explain why women in Pakistan have, at all ages, poorer SRH than men.

Socio Economic Conditions of Child Labourers in Pakistan: Evidence from the Labour Force Survey

Child labour has emerged as a serious, widespread and growing problem in many parts of the world. Asia has a large number of children employed as child labourers. Child Labour Survey 1996 reports that there are 3.3 million children working between the ages of 5 and 14 years in Pakistan. Developed countries have linked trade with child labour through the Harkin Bill and the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Agreement (1994), which banned the market manufactured or mined goods produced in whole or in part by children under 15 years of age. Pakistan is also facing restrictions on some of its exports due to allegations of child labour. However, Pakistan has enacted the Employment of Children Act of 1991, which has banned employment of children below the age of 14 years.

Fifty years of Pakistan's economy: traditional topics and contemporary concerns

The volume reviews the fifty years of Pakistan's economy, representing the case history of a country as a laboratory where currently fashionable economic ideas have been imported and tried out. This book is intended for students of economics and Pakistan Studies at college and university level; policy-makers, technocrats.

Households’ Non-leisure Time Allocation for Children and Determinants of Child Labour in Punjab, Pakistan

Pakistan is one of those countries in Asia where incidence of child labour is very high. Children should not have to work, but the estimates of the Child Labour Survey 1996 show that there are 3.3 million working children between the ages of 5-14 years in Pakistan. Due to political, social and economic pressures, developing countries like Pakistan tend to react by enacting legislation which bans child labour. Countries which are now developed did the same thing when they successfully completed their industrialisation. Child labour is often harmful for the children, but there are situations where the alternatives to child labour may offer only deeper poverty both for the children and their families. Therefore, mishandling of this issue can make matters from bad to worse, for example, if legislation pushes children into even worse situations. The Government of Pakistan has enacted the Employment of Children Act of 1991 which has banned employment of children below the age of 14 years and their employment is now a cognisable offence under the Act punishable by imprisonment and fine.1 Such interventions can lead to reductions in the already limited choices available to the child. For example, this legislation may mean that the child can neither work nor go to school. To put it differently, this ban does not address market failures, for example, in the education market.

Comparative Epidemiology of Epilepsy in Pakistan and Turkey: Population‐Based Studies Using Identical Protocols

To determine comparative prevalence rates, demographics, phenomenology, seizure classification, presumptive etiology, treatment status, and selected socioanthropological aspects of epilepsy in Pakistan and Turkey. A population-based, cross-cultural comparative study of epilepsy was designed with identical protocols to be performed simultaneously in Pakistan and Turkey. The essential feature of the design was an unselected population, with reference to their previous medical contact, and use of standardized International Community-Based Epilepsy Research Group (ICBERG) protocols to assess cross-cultural differences. In all, 24,130 persons in Pakistan and 11,497 persons in Turkey (both urban and rural, of all ages and both sexes) were studied. The crude prevalence rate of epilepsy was 9.98 in 1,000 in Pakistan and 7.0 in 1,000 in Turkey (14.8 in 1,000 in rural and 7.4 in 1,000 in urban areas of Pakistan; 8.8 in 1,000 in rural and 4.5 in 1,000 in urban areas of Turkey). In both countries, epilepsy was twice as prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas. Mean age of onset of epilepsy was 13.3 years in Pakistan and 12.9 years in Turkey. Overall frequency of seizure types was similar in both countries, with no urban/rural differences. The frequency distribution in Pakistan and Turkey, respectively, was as follows; generalized tonic-clonic, 80.5 and 65.4%; simple partial, 5 and 7.4%; complex partial, 5 and 12.3%; generalized absence, 0.8 and 4.9%; tonic and atonic, 5.8 and 3.7% each; and myoclonic, 5.8 and 1.2%. A putative cause for the epilepsy could be attributed in 38.4% of cases in Pakistan and 35.7% of cases in Turkey. Only 3% of patients in Pakistan, but 71% of patients in Turkey, believed that their illness was due to supernatural causes. The treatment status was very poor. In Pakistan, 27.5% of people with epilepsy in urban areas and 1.9% of people with epilepsy in rural areas were receiving antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) at the time of the survey. In, Turkey 30% of patients were receiving AEDs (marginally higher in rural areas). The prevalence of epilepsy is slightly higher in Pakistan than in Turkey; some marginal differences in age and sex distribution, are not statistically significant. The results are comparable to those in Ecuador, where the same epidemiologic protocol was used.

Inflation in Pakistan Revisited

A notable development in recent years in Pakistan's economic scene has been the sharp pickup in the rate of inflation. In particular, Pakistan has experienced sustained intlation (changes in the CPI) hovering between 11.0 to 13.0 percent range during the last three years (1993-94 to 1995-96). The persistence of inflation at double-digit rates over the three successive years has attracted considerable attention of academics and policy-makers. Not surprisingly, one of the thorniest issues in Pakistan's policy arena today is how to put inflation under effective control.Recent studies on inflation in Pakistan I broadly agree on the key factors influencing the rate of inflation, namely, the growth in money supply, the supply side bottlenecks, the adjustment in government-administered prices, the imported inflation (exchange rate adjustment), escalations in indirect taxes, and inflationary expectations. However, these studies do not concur on the relative importance of each of these factors as determinants of inflation. While Nasim (1995) and Hossain (1990) find money supply as the principal factors underlying the rising inflation rate in Pakistan, others suggest that food prices followed by government administered fueVenergy prices and indirect taxation are the primary impetus for the upward inflationary spira1.2 In fact, Naqvi et al. (1994); Hasan et at. (1995) and Bilquees (1988) accord relatively less importance to money supply as a factor influencing the rate of inflation but in no way recommend a relatively easy monetary policy.

You're never too old

My wife and I have recently returned after two years in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. We have been working for a project which provides a primary health care service to some 25 000 Afghan refugees in three camps not far from Peshawar. We were recruited and placed there by Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). Nothing new about this; after all VSO has been doing this sort of thing for 30 years and there are now some 20 000 people who have been VSO volunteers. What raised some eyebrows among friends here before we left was that we were then aged 64 and 67. My wife is a trained teacher and social worker with a lot of administrative experience in both local authority and voluntary organisations. I had been a general practitioner for 20 years and then a medical officer in the civil service. About seven years ago, when we saw retirement approaching and first talked to VSO, the messages were mixed. Our qualifications and experience were welcome, but our age was against us. Because of the attitude of many overseas governments it was difficult to place volunteers of 55 and over. We persevered and were accepted, but when after …

The Slaughter House Waste Management

Thousands of animals are slaughtered every year in Pakistan, but unfortunately there is no proper mecha-nism nor waste water management system to handle the effuent discharge of the slaughtering process. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the potential hazards associated with slaughter houses, by analyzing waste-water characteristics and designing a suitable treatment system for safe effuent disposal. The results obtained indicate that the wastewater parameters of the slaughter house do not meet the requirements of the local effuent dis-charge standards. The average wastewater characteristics in terms of COD, BOD, TDS, TSS, turbidity and pH observed were 9600mg/L, 7450 mg/L, 1650 mg/L, 2280 mg/L, 1489 NTU and 6.5, respectively. The results of plain sedimenta-tion point out that the maximum removal effciency of COD, BOD, TDS, TSS and turbidity at 80 minutes of detention time could be obtained as13%, 21%, 10%, 30% and 39%, respectively. Out of the three coagulants tested, the alum was tested out as the most suitable coagulant in terms of its treatability performance, which gives 80% COD removal compare to lime and magnesium sulfate that gives about 56% and 71% removal, respectively. The activated system designed consists of 12m x 7.5m x 3.5m rectangular aeration tank and 12m x 7m x 5m secondary sedimentation tank. The amount of air, power and the major nutrient (N and P) required for this system were worked out as 136m3/min, 7.8kW, 152 N-kg/day and 30 P-kg/day, respectively.Key words: Slaughter house effluent; Sedimentation; Alum; Activated sludge system; PakistanDOI: 10.3126/hn.v7i0.4236Hydro Nepal Journal of Water, Energy and Environment Vol 7, July, 2010Page: 48-53Uploaded date: 31 January, 2011

Three Years of Pakistan's New National Family-Planning Programme

Seventeen years ago (1952) the first organized family-planning programmes were started in Pakistan by the Family Planning Tanning Association of Pakistan. Since that time family planning has passed through three distinct phases, and it is now in a fourth phase. Phase I was marked by the unofficial activities of voluntary organizations such as the Family Planning Association. In Phase II, the begin¬ning of an official policy was made with the "cautious approval" and limited funding of such activities by the government in the First Five-Year Plan (1955-1960). Official policy was crystallized in Phase III with the writing of the \ Second Five-Year Plan (1960-1965) in which a specific allocation was made for \ family planning and the responsibilities for operating such a programme assigned to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Welfare, Health Division [21 ; 22].

1965 -- An Epoch-Making Year in Pakistan -- General Elections and War with India

Research Article| February 01 1966 1965 -- An Epoch-Making Year in Pakistan -- General Elections and War with India Khalid B. Sayeed Khalid B. Sayeed Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Far Eastern Survey (1937) 6 (2): 76–85. https://doi.org/10.2307/2642101 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Khalid B. Sayeed; 1965 -- An Epoch-Making Year in Pakistan -- General Elections and War with India. Far Eastern Survey 20 January 1937; 6 (2): 76–85. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/2642101 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAsian Survey Search This content is only available via PDF. Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

1965 -- An Epoch-Making Year in Pakistan -- General Elections and War with India

1965 -- An Epoch-Making Year in Pakistan -- General Elections and War with India

Iron and anemia

Non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases, diabetes, and mental disorders, and injuries have become the major causes of morbidity and mortality in Pakistan. Tobacco use and hypertension are the leading attributable risk factors for deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and respiratory diseases. Pakistan has the sixth highest number of people in the world with diabetes; every fourth adult is overweight or obese; cigarettes are cheap; antismoking and road safety laws are poorly enforced; and a mixed public–private health-care system provides suboptimum care. Furthermore, almost three decades of exposure to sociopolitical instability, economic uncertainty, violence, regional conflict, and dislocation have contributed to a high prevalence of mental health disorders. Projection models based on the Global Burden of Disease 2010 data suggest that there will be about 3·87 million premature deaths by 2025 from cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and chronic respiratory diseases in people aged 30–69 years in Pakistan, with serious economic consequences. Modelling of risk factor reductions also indicate that Pakistan could achieve at least a 20% reduction in the number of these deaths by 2025 by targeting of the major risk factors. We call for policy and legislative changes, and health-system interventions to target readily preventable non-communicable diseases in Pakistan.

Pakistan's Foreign Policy: An Analysis of Pakistani Fears and Interests

Every country pursues her foreign policy in accordance with her national interests. These interests depend upon a number of factors like cultural and historical traditions, geography, economic and political objectives. But in this medley of interests there often is an overriding objective which is not based purely on rational considerations. Every country has a ruling passion in her foreign policy. When one calls it a passion, one is not suggesting that this is something entirely emotional or irrational. It may be based on genuine fears and hatreds which have accumulated over the years and which may be intertwined with material and religious considerations. Pakistan is no exception to this. Indeed very few countries were born in an atmosphere surcharged with intense illwill and mutual hatred as Pakistan was in 1947 as a result of the partition of the sub-continent. Almost every action of Pakistan can be interpreted as being motivated by fear of India. She complains that India opposed her very formation and that her policy of intense hostility continues unabated. India, both in manpower and material and military strength, is vastly superior to Pakistan. Before India's border clash with China, even with the aid Pakistan was receiving from the United States, her armed forces never exceeded more than one-third of India's strength. After sixteen years of Pakistan's independent existence, and even after India's humiliating defeat in the border clash with China, Mr. Nehru in an inter. view declared that Indo-Pakistani confederation remains our ultimate end.' Similarly, Pakistan alleges that India has been promoting subversive activity in East Pakistan and that in the event of a military conflict her first and relatively easy target would be East Pakistan. American aid to India has only accentuated Pakistan's fear in the sense that a well. equipped Indian army meant for China in the North-East Frontier Agency would be so positioned as to be able to wheel round swiftly to attack East Pakistan.2 Thus, Dawn in an editorial observed: If the main concern of the Christian West is the containment of Chinese Communism, the main concern of Muslim Pakistan is the containment of militarist and militant Hinduism.v3 One may find all this a bit exaggerated, but the fact remains that Pakistan joined the various defense pacts with the United States largely to protect her interests against the future aggression of

Two Years of Pakistan's Second Plan (Review Article)

The publication by the Planning Commission of a Mid-Plan Review1 of progress in the first two years of the Second Five Year Plan (1960-65) gives interested observers a unique opportunity to reassess their thinking about economic development in Pakistan. Despite enormous difficulties because of data limitations, this document represents an admirable effort to measure the growth in the whole economy and in its major sectors in the recent past and to suggest what this implies with respect to the prospects for meeting the targets of the Second Plan. Inevitably, it also raises, though only by implication, some questions about longer-run growth pros¬pects in Pakistan. The document is divided into three parts : a general review, a sectoral review, and a statistical appendix. The appendix, which consumes more than half of the 119 pages, contains the basic raw material which is summarized and evaluated in the first two parts. Since data relating to privately financed development expenditure are generally lacking, most of the reported data refer to the government-financed sector. Nevertheless, attempts have been made to fill in the gaps with estimates for the private sector in order to give a rounded picture of development progress.