Explore the vast range of titles available.

This publication seeks to strengthen financial preparedness for disasters in Pakistan. It focuses on insurance and other risk transfer instruments and explores the current application of disaster risk financing solutions by the government, businesses, and individual households; related demand and supply constraints; and opportunities for improvement. This is one of a series of country diagnostics assessments that used a common methodology to determine the state of the enabling environment for disaster risk financing.

Drawing on fieldwork with British Pakistani clients of a UK genetics service, this book explores the personal and social implications of a ‘genetic diagnosis’. Through case material and comparative discussion, the book identifies practical ethical dilemmas raised by new genetic knowledge and shows how, while being shaped by culture, these issues also cross-cut differences of culture, religion and ethnicity. The book also demonstrates how identifying a population-level elevated ‘risk’ of genetic disorders in an ethnic minority population can reinforce existing social divisions and cultural stereotypes. The book addresses questions about the relationship between genetic risk and clinical practice that will be relevant to health workers and policy makers.

Background Access of all people to the healthcare they need, without financial hardship is the goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). As UHC initiatives expand, assessing the needs of vulnerable populations can reveal gaps in the system which may be covered by relevant policies. In this study we (i) identify the met and unmet primary healthcare needs of the poorest population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (KP), Pakistan, and (ii) explore why the gaps exist. Methods We used Leveque’s Framework of Patient-centred Access to Healthcare to examine unmet primary healthcare (PHC) needs and their underlying causes for the poorest population in four districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. Using a triangulation mixed methods design, we analysed data from a quantitative household survey of744 households, 17 focus group discussions with household members and, 11 interviews with healthcare providers. Results Our results show that indicate that despite service utilization, PHC needs were not met, primarily due to prohibitively high costs at each stage of access. Furthermore, gaps in outreach and information (approachability), and varying availability of medicines and diagnostics at facilities (appropriateness) the supply side as well as difficulties in navigating the system (inability to perceive) and adhering to prescriptions (inability to engage) on the demand side, also led to unmet PHC needs. Going beyond utilization, our findings highlight that engagement with care is an important determinant of met needs for vulnerable populations. Conclusion Social health protection policies can contribute to advancing UHC for primary care. However, in our setting, enhancing communication and outreach, addressing gender and age disparities, and improving quality of care and health infrastructure are necessary to fully meet the needs of the poorest populations. Highlights • The primary health needs of the poorest population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remain largely unmet or are met with difficulties, across the care-seeking pathway. • Major contributors to unmet primary healthcare needs in the study area are: low outreach, crowded facilities and, varying availability of medicines and diagnostics at facilities on the supply side, and difficulties in navigating care and inability to afford prescribed care on the demand side. • Social Health Protection is a crucial tool for advancing Universal Health Coverage and improving primary healthcare, however these needs cannot be met without quality service provision and outreach from facilities. • Levesque’s framework of access to care (2013) can be effectively employed to identify broad-based unmet needs and assess gaps in primary healthcare systems.

Pakistan s population is growing and becoming more urbanized. By 2020, Karachi and Lahore will each have a population of well over 10 million people and several other cities will have a population of at least one million. These trends offer both risks and opportunities. Badly managed urban centers with poor services and slim opportunity for gainful employment could become centers of discontent and social conflict. Alternatively, properly managed and well-connected cities can help firms become more competitive, and with the right set of policies, promote industrialization and life-changing employment opportunities. In order to capitalize on these opportunities, Pakistan will need to take decisive steps to deepen the pool of skills, strengthen the commercial environment, upgrade infrastructure, diversify production, and climb up the technology ladder. Revitalizing Industrial Growth in Pakistan: Trade, Infrastructure, and Environmental Performance addresses ways in which Pakistan can revitalize its manufacturing by reducing the cost of doing business, improving the investment climate, and strengthening institutions to facilitate the flow of people, goods, and ideas and thus stimulate medium-term growth and job creation. Such revitalization is sorely needed to place the country on a sustained path of high economic growth. The authors lay out priorities and strategies for greening Pakistan s industrial growth and provide a comprehensive analysis of issues in the debate on this strategy. They examine the ways in which Pakistan can encourage and assist its private sector to fill the void in low-skilled labor-intensive manufacturing left by other economies and do so while creating and distributing new wealth. To increase the chances of success, appropriate actions will need to come from different actors in government, the private sector, and civil society. This book will be of interest to government officials and academic researchers working in the fields of industry, the environment, and energy, as well as to the general public.

The question of what causes war has concerned statesmen since the time of Thucydides. The Steps to War utilizes new data on militarized interstate disputes from 1816 to 2001 to identify the factors that increase the probability that a crisis will escalate to war. In this book, Paul Senese and John Vasquez test one of the major behavioral explanations of war--the steps to war--by identifying the various factors that put two states at risk for war. Focusing on the era of classic international politics from 1816 to 1945, the Cold War, and the post-Cold War period, they look at the roles of territorial disputes, alliances, rivalry, and arms races and show how the likelihood of war increases significantly as these risk factors are combined. Senese and Vasquez argue that war is more likely in the presence of these factors because they increase threat perception and put both sides into a security dilemma. The Steps to War calls into question certain prevailing realist beliefs, like peace through strength, demonstrating how threatening to use force and engaging in power politics is more likely to lead to war than to peace.

This book analyzes the objectives and content of the World Bank's assistance program during the period 1994-2003, the economic and social development outcomes in Pakistan, and the contributions of the Bank to development outcomes.

The speeches in this collection-all delivered since Nicholas Stern became Chief Economist of the World Bank in July 2000-reflect insights that Mr. Stern has gained over more than three decades of study and work in development economics. Together they provide an analysis of development experience and an agenda for action in the coming years.In his introduction, the author explains the evolution of his ideas, starting with early work in Africa and India, within the larger context of changes in development thinking and strategy. The speeches that follow draw on his varied experience and on the research findings and operational experience of the World Bank. The first speech provides an overview of the past five decades of development. Speeches that follow explore current development issues in India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and China. A strategy for development is then outlined: building an economic climate that facilitates investment and growth, and empowering poor people to participate in that growth. A concluding speech examines the role of the international financial institutions in promoting investment and overcoming poverty.