Importance of Clean Drinking Water to Prevent Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) has been a major health concern in Sri Lanka throughout the years. Over 150,000 persons in Sri Lanka have been identified with CKD. Sri Lanka is one of the most seriously impacted countries by CKD.
Ten districts out of twenty-five districts were identified with a high prevalence of the disease. Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, Kurunegala, Mathale, Badulla, Monaragala, and Ampara are areas of concern.
We implemented two programs with the beneficiaries residing in the Ginnoruwa area of ​​the Badulla district and Dehiattakandiya area of ​​the Ampara district. In this program, 150 members were selected from Ginnoruwa and 150 members from the Dehiattakandiya area, which are considered to be the most affected areas. Blood test was done to determine if they were suffering from kidney disease and if so, its stage. These programs were held on 27 October 2023 at Ginnoruwa and on 03 November 2023 at Dehiattakandiya. A training session was conducted to provide in-depth knowledge of Chronic Kidney Disease to the beneficiaries during this program.

Through this valuable program, we were able to identify 8 new patients from the Ginnoruwa area and 3 new patients from the Dehiattakandiya area and referred the patients to the CKD clinics of the respective hospitals.