ASD and Berendina: Aiming to make a difference in the CKD crisis
View(s):The growing problem of rampant Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province (NCP) has long term implications, both economic and social for the entire country, says Berendina Development Services (BDS), a Dutch funded local NGO operaional in Sri Lanka since 1987.
It has been estimated that around 500,000 persons countrywide are suffering from CKD at present and around 200,000 persons have already succumbed to the disease. The daily death rate due to the disease is reported to be around 18. The majority of persons affected by CKD are paddy farmers. This has long term economic as well as social implications for the entire country, BDS said in a media statement.
Recognising these dire social problems, the Association for Social Development (ASD), an independent voluntary social service organization, and BDS have implemented a number of initiatives to address the immediate and long term social and economic consequences resulting from CKD.
“The main contributory factor to CKD in Sri Lanka has been identified as the excessive use of chemical fertilizer, weedicides and pesticides in agriculture resulting in the contamination of natural drinking water supplies especially in the NCP. This, combined with certain lifestyle factors, such as heavy consumption of alcohol, pain killers and dehydration due to long hours of manual work in arid climatic conditions of the dry zone, has aggravated the situation. The social implications of CKD are many fold. Heavy expenses incurred for treatment of a family member affected by CKD over extended periods of time results in near bankruptcy of these paddy cultivating families. The long term suffering and death of a head of a household or a family member from the disease also leaves severe emotional scars on the rest of the family,” the statement said.
Many children in CKD-affected families have discontinued their education due to economic difficulties and the educational levels of those still attending school are far below the expected standards.
ASD has identified the Padavi Sripura area in the Trincomalee district as one of the areas severely affected by the disease. ASD in partnership with BDS and Good Partners, a Korean NGO, is currently implementing a number of initiatives to help this community and the communities in adjacent areas affected by the disease. Provision of safe drinking water, education of the affected and other families on the prevention and management of the disease, its early detection, livelihood support to destitute families, assistance to students of affected families to continue their studies without interruption and provision of counselling to the affected are some of the planned interventions to mitigate the adverse effects of the
disease.
Educational support to children of CKD-affected families remains a critical requirement. In January 2014, ASD launched a Student Sponsorship Scheme to assist the school-going children of affected families in Padavi Sripura.
These students have lost one or both parents leaving these children destitute or in other cases one parent or both are suffering from the disease resulting in heavy expenses to the family. A Rs 15,000 scholarship is provided per year per student under this scholarship scheme and it will continue till the completion of school education, it said.
Currently around 65 scholarships have been awarded by ASD and a total of 115 scholarships are expected to be awarded by the end of this year.
ASD along with Good Partners is also working on a project titled ‘Project Good Hope’, which aims to raise the living conditions of people in the Padavi Sripura area. Under the first phase of this project safe drinking water is to be provided through the provision of 18 Reverse Osmosis (RO) type filters which have the capacity to remove toxic contaminants in drinking water, to pre-schools and selected temples. Four large industrial type RO filters are to be installed at four Community Centres.
Since many families affected by CKD are undergoing severe mental distress, appropriate psychological counselling also has been identified as a critical need for such communities. Berendina is currently employing the services of a competent consultant in the area of psychological counselling and is currently training 22 school-teachers in 11 schools as psychological counsellors to help identify students and the families which need counselling, BDS said. Well-wishers seeking to provide assistance are required to contact: The Association for Social Development, 31/1A, 2nd Lane, Koswatta, Nawala, Rajagiriya; Tel: +94 112886726, E-mail: mail@asocdev.com; Web: www.ascodev.com