Purified water supply yields, chronic kidney disease loosens grip on people

By Huzefa Aliasger and Pranavesh Sivakumar   

Access to purified water in the North Central Province of  Sri Lanka has reduced deadly diseases such as Chronic Kidney Disease  (CKD) in rural areas, enabling low-income earners to improve their health,  based on research on the impact of purified water to reduce CKD by a  UK-based research platform BioMed Central (BMC) Nephrology.   

CKD, having prevailed in the North Central Province from  2010 to 2016, mainly in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, was found to be due  to “The water in North Central Province being hard and unpalatable, resulting in residents drinking inadequately to quench their thirst”,  based on the study.   

CKD, also called chronic kidney failure, is about a gradual  loss of kidney function. The kidneys filter wastes and excess fluids  from the blood, which are then removed in your urine. Advanced chronic  kidney disease can cause dangerous levels of fluid, electrolytes and  wastes to build up in your body. The CKD diagnosis for the study were  patients was prospectively collected from eleven hospitals monthly. The  hospitals included Teaching Hospitals, District General Hospitals, Base  Hospitals and Divisional Hospitals of the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa  Districts.   

The authors also say “with the prevalence of diabetes  increased to 16.5 per cent in the North Central Province and the  prevalence of hypertension increased to 26 per cent in Anuradhapura  District. Towards the later part of our study, a significant portion of  CKD in the North Central Province may be related to hypertension and  diabetes.”   

During the 2010 to 2020 period, 362,293 and 205,767 were  screened for CKD, in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa Districts,  respectively. In Anuradhapura District, the highest number of people  was screened in 2016 (89,184) and in Polonnaruwa in 2017 (44,681).   

Ever since 2011, when the provision to provide water plants  commenced, as many as 1,000 purified water plants were introduced and provided.     

This was following CKD screening information from  2010-2020, obtained through the Regional Director of Health Services of  Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa Districts.   

There had been 30,596 new hospital-diagnosed CKD patients  reported from NCP during the period of 2010 to 2020 (19,378 and 11,218  from Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa Districts, respectively.   

Enabling access to these water plants meant an increase in  cases from 2013 to 2016, seeing a decline thereafter in both districts.   

The results reaped were as immediate as 2017, when the decreasing trend began to surface.   

The research also concluded, saying – this declining trend may be associated with the provision of drinking water plants.