Browsing by Subject "Pakistan"
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Item Open Access Assessing Industrial Energy Transition in the Textile Sector in Pakistan(2022-04-22) Ul Haq, SomanThis study assesses the industrial captive power generation in Pakistan and its on-going transition to renewable energy. By focusing on the textile sector and conducting an energy survey with detailed interview sessions with energy management teams from a number of large textile companies, we try to answer some of these questions: Why do industries in Pakistan continue to generate captive power even when there is excess generation capacity in the grid, and the government is incentivizing and encouraging the use of grid electricity? What are some factors driving the transition to renewable energy in captive generation? Similarly, what are some barriers for industries to integrate renewable energy in their energy mix? What benefits, in terms of emission reductions and cost savings can be attributed by adding solar PV for these industries? Lastly, we assess the impact of a recently implemented sales taxes on renewable energy equipment on the costs of industrial solar PV projects.Item Open Access Beyond Polio in Pakistan: Understanding the Development and Consequences of Eradication Strategies(2024-04-18) Sheikh, ShanzehThis thesis seeks to understand how the strategies of polio eradication and the development of the healthcare environment in Pakistan have led to the continued presence of polio in the country, despite its elimination in nearly every other country besides neighboring Afghanistan. Often the literature, focused on the execution of programs, overlooks the program design that in many ways occurs outside of Pakistan. I use a critical historical analysis to identify root causes of international and national stakeholders’ eradication strategies and rationale, paying close attention to how Pakistan’s history has shaped its perspectives and possibilities. I review archival sources from the Pakistani government, physicians, and international organizations, as well as research papers and reports on polio eradication and health infrastructure. I also conducted nine interviews with Pakistani physicians, researchers, and public health workers. Colonial medical interests have shaped international health regulations and Pakistan’s health system such that they are largely focused on combatting single diseases rather than investing in basic healthcare. The Pakistani state has created gaps in healthcare delivery that military conflict in the region has exacerbated, and that physicians struggle to fill within the politicized health environment. The failure to address community demands for other health services leads to mistrust and vaccine refusals, but international health organizations continue to focus efforts on disease-targeted strategies due to concerns about cost-effectiveness and sunk investments. Efforts to eradicate a disease like polio would be better served by a focus on basic health services. International organizations must re-evaluate what programs they prioritize to control diseases, center investment in public and primary health care as opposed to selective and targeted interventions, and empower the voices of those in marginalized communities to develop programs that respond to their needs, rather than the needs of high-income countries.Item Open Access Brain research to ameliorate impaired neurodevelopment--home-based intervention trial (BRAIN-HIT).(BMC pediatrics, 2010-04-30) Wallander, Jan L; McClure, Elizabeth; Biasini, Fred; Goudar, Shivaprasad S; Pasha, Omrana; Chomba, Elwyn; Shearer, Darlene; Wright, Linda; Thorsten, Vanessa; Chakraborty, Hrishikesh; Dhaded, Sangappa M; Mahantshetti, Niranjana S; Bellad, Roopa M; Abbasi, Zahid; Carlo, Waldemar; BRAIN-HIT InvestigatorsThis randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effects of an early developmental intervention program on the development of young children in low- and low-middle-income countries who are at risk for neurodevelopmental disability because of birth asphyxia. A group of children without perinatal complications are evaluated in the same protocol to compare the effects of early developmental intervention in healthy infants in the same communities. Birth asphyxia is the leading specific cause of neonatal mortality in low- and low-middle-income countries and is also the main cause of neonatal and long-term morbidity including mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Mortality and morbidity from birth asphyxia disproportionately affect more infants in low- and low-middle-income countries, particularly those from the lowest socioeconomic groups. There is evidence that relatively inexpensive programs of early developmental intervention, delivered during home visit by parent trainers, are capable of improving neurodevelopment in infants following brain insult due to birth asphyxia.This trial is a block-randomized controlled trial that has enrolled 174 children with birth asphyxia and 257 without perinatal complications, comparing early developmental intervention plus health and safety counseling to the control intervention receiving health and safety counseling only, in sites in India, Pakistan, and Zambia. The interventions are delivered in home visits every two weeks by parent trainers from 2 weeks after birth until age 36 months. The primary outcome of the trial is cognitive development, and secondary outcomes include social-emotional and motor development. Child, parent, and family characteristics and number of home visits completed are evaluated as moderating factors.The trial is supervised by a trial steering committee, and an independent data monitoring committee monitors the trial. Findings from this trial have the potential to inform about strategies for reducing neurodevelopmental disabilities in at-risk young children in low and middle income countries.Item Open Access Challenges and Prospects of Sustainable Groundwater Management in the Indus Basin, Pakistan(2010) Qureshi, Asad Sarwar; McCornick, Peter G; Sarwar, A; Sharma, Bharat RIn Pakistan, on-demand availability of groundwater has transformed the concept of low and uncertain crop yields into more assured crop production. Increased crop yields has resulted in food security and improved rural livelihoods. However, this growth has also led to problems of overdraft, falling water tables and degradation of groundwater quality, and yields generally remain well below potential levels. Over the last three decades, Pakistan has tried several direct and indirect management strategies for groundwater management. However the success has been limited. This paper argues that techno-institutional approaches such as introducing water rights, direct or indirect pricing and permit systems are fraught with difficulties in Pakistan due to its high population density and multitude of tiny users. Therefore there is a need to develop frameworks and management tools that are best suited to Pakistani needs. Pakistan should follow both supply and demand management approaches. For demand management, adoption of water conservation technologies, revision of existing cropping patterns and exploration of alternate water resources should be encouraged. For supply management, implementation of the groundwater regulatory frameworks developed by Provincial Irrigation and Drainage Authorities (PIDAs) and introduction of institutional reforms to enhance effective coordination between different organizations responsible for the management of groundwater resources should be given priority.Item Open Access Dose of early intervention treatment during children's first 36 months of life is associated with developmental outcomes: an observational cohort study in three low/low-middle income countries.(BMC pediatrics, 2014-10-25) Wallander, Jan L; Biasini, Fred J; Thorsten, Vanessa; Dhaded, Sangappa M; de Jong, Desiree M; Chomba, Elwyn; Pasha, Omrana; Goudar, Shivaprasad; Wallace, Dennis; Chakraborty, Hrishikesh; Wright, Linda L; McClure, Elizabeth; Carlo, Waldemar AThe positive effects of early developmental intervention (EDI) on early child development have been reported in numerous controlled trials in a variety of countries. An important aspect to determining the efficacy of EDI is the degree to which dosage is linked to outcomes. However, few studies of EDI have conducted such analyses. This observational cohort study examined the association between treatment dose and children's development when EDI was implemented in three low and low-middle income countries as well as demographic and child health factors associated with treatment dose.Infants (78 males, 67 females) born in rural communities in India, Pakistan, and Zambia received a parent-implemented EDI delivered through biweekly home visits by trainers during the first 36 months of life. Outcome was measured at age 36 months with the Mental (MDI) and Psychomotor (PDI) Development Indices of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II. Treatment dose was measured by number of home visits completed and parent-reported implementation of assigned developmental stimulation activities between visits. Sociodemographic, prenatal, perinatal, and child health variables were measures as correlates.Average home visits dose exceeded 91% and mothers engaged the children in activities on average 62.5% of days. Higher home visits dose was significantly associated with higher MDI (mean for dose quintiles 1-2 combined = 97.8, quintiles 3-5 combined = 103.4, p = 0.0017). Higher treatment dose was also generally associated with greater mean PDI, but the relationships were non-linear. Location, sociodemographic, and child health variables were associated with treatment dose.Receiving a higher dose of EDI during the first 36 months of life is generally associated with better developmental outcomes. The higher benefit appears when receiving ≥91% of biweekly home visits and program activities on ≥67% of days over 3 years. It is important to ensure that EDI is implemented with a sufficiently high dose to achieve desired effect. To this end groups at risk for receiving lower dose can be identified and may require special attention to ensure adequate effect.Item Open Access The `Ulama' and the State: Negotiating Tradition, Authority and Sovereignty in Contemporary Pakistan(2014) Saif, MashalThis dissertation is an account of how contemporary Pakistani ulama grapple with their political realities and the Islamic state of Pakistan. The central conceptual question that scaffolds my dissertation is: How do Pakistani ulama negotiate tradition, authority and sovereignty with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan? In engaging with this issue, this dissertation employs a methodology that weds ethnography with rigorous textual analysis. The ulama that feature in this study belong to a variety of sectarian persuasions. The Sunni ulama are Deobandi and Barelvi; the Shia ulama in this study are Ithna Ashari.
In assessing the relationship between Pakistani ulama and their nation-state, I assert that the ulama's dialectical engagements with the state are best understood as a dexterous navigation between affirmation, critique, contestation and cultivation. In proposing this manner of thinking about Pakistani ulama's engagements with their state, I provide a more detailed and nuanced view of the ulama-state relationship compared to earlier works. While emphasizing Pakistani ulama's vitality and their impact on their state, this dissertation also draws attention to the manners in which the state impacts the ulama. It theorizes the subject formation of the ulama and asserts the importance of understanding the ulama as formed not just by the ethico-legal tradition in which they are trained but also by the state apparatus.