Water Treatment, Preventive Measures and the Chronic Kidney Disease in the Farming Community in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Whilst being accountable for an increasing trend in mortality and morbidity, Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) has become a severe burden in Sri Lanka. Even though there is no sound evidence to clarify the aetiology of CKDu, it will be worthwhile to seek out the possible measures to minimize the prevalence of the disease. Hence, this study was intended to examine the impact of water treatment and preventive measures on CKDu. Data were collected from the farming community who applies agrochemicals. Both a probit and a Logit regression were carried out to check whether there is any relationship between CKDu and related variables such as consumption of treated water and adopting safety precautions. Results reveal that age, being a male, using deep wells as a source of drinking water, and long term medication increases the probability of getting the disease while, both preventive measures and water treatment significantly reduce this probability. Therefore, ensuring an adequate supply of treated water, especially for the severely affected villages is vital. Furthermore, both government and non-government institutions should work responsibly to increase the awareness of CKDu and safety precautions, in order to save the future generation.