Over 3,000 new kidney patients found in
Matale
By Don Asoka Wijewardena-August 19, 2014
More than 3,000 new victims of chronic kidney disease have been detected in the Matale District for the first time. In Weligamuwa and Kongahawela areas of the Matale District farmers engaged in onion cultivation were the worst affected due to excessive use of agrochemicals including glyphosate, the National Project for the Prevention of Kidney Disease said.
National Project for the Prevention of Kidney Disease Director Dr. Channa Jayasumana yesterday told The Island that on his
visit to Matale District with Special Projects Secretary Dr. Sakalasuriya they had detected more then 3,000 kidney patients. Most patients were reluctant to seek medical attention as access to hospitals from where they lived was difficult.
Dr. Jayasumana said that his research team had found that most onion cultivators had become victims of CKD in the Matale district. The main reason he found was that most onion farmers had got used to using excess amounts of glyphosate for land preparation. Then they had used various kinds of agrochemicals to reap better harvest from onion cultivation. In Welugamuwa DS Division around 658 CKD patients were detected and Konghawela around 200 CKD patients were detected.
Dr. Jayasumana added that once the CKD was only confined to the North-Central province but now it had rapidly spread to the other provinces at an alarming rate. More families had lost their breadwinners who were affected by the CKD. The prevailing dry weather conditions had aggravated the problem. Relief measures and hospitalization for the affected were being done by the Special Projects Minister S.M. Chandrasena.
The time had come to take strong action to ban harmful agrochemicals from cultivations as the treat of CKD spreading to all districts was real unless tangible measures were taken without delay, he said.
When asked about the water in the Matale district, Dr. Jayasumana said that water there too had changed. The water was hard and was mixed with harmful substances of various agrochemicals used by onion farmers. The Research Team and the Special Projects Ministry had commenced an awareness programme for the inhabitants in the area and advised them to seek timely medical attention at the nearest hospital. The Special Projects Ministry was monitoring the situation with health officials assigned.
