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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Secondhand smoke accounts for a considerable proportion of deaths due to tobacco smoke. Although the existing laws ban indoor smoking in public places in Sri Lanka, the level of compliance is unknown. METHODS: Fine particulate matter (PM(2.5) ) levels in 20 public places in Colombo, Sri Lanka were measured by a PM monitor (Model AM510-SIDEPAK Personal Aerosol Monitor). Different types of businesses (restaurants, bars, cafés, and entertainment venues) were selected by purposive sampling. Only the places where smoking was permitted were considered. RESULTS: The average indoor PM(2.5) ranged from 33 to 299 µg/m(3) . The average outdoor PM(2.5) ranged from 18 to 83 µg/m(3) . The indoor to outdoor PM(2.5) ratio ranged from 1.05 to 14.93. In all venues, indoor PM(2.5) levels were higher than the Sri Lankan ambient PM(2.5) standard of 50 µg/m(3) . All indoor locations had higher PM(2.5) levels as compared to their immediate outdoor surroundings. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the importance of improving ventilation and enforcing laws to stop smoking in public places. Am. J. Ind. Med. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine 04/2012; · 1.63 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Quality of life (QOL) was assessed in 141 filarial lymphedema patients and 128 healthy people in the Colombo district, Sri Lanka, by administering modified, translated, and validated (in Sri Lanka) versions of the Short Form 36 health survey questionnaire (SF-36) and the 30-item General Health questionnaire (GHQ-30). The GHQ-30 assesses the current mental health status. The SF-36 measures health on 8 multi-item dimensions covering functional state, well-being, and overall evaluation of health (physical functioning, role limitations resulting from physical health problems, role limitations resulting from emotional problems, energy/fatigue, emotional well-being, social functioning, pain and general health). By SF-36, patients experienced poorer physical functioning, more role limitations resulting from physical health conditions, less emotional well-being, poorer social functioning, and more pain than healthy individuals. By GHQ-30, mental well-being of healthy controls was significantly better than that of patients. The significant difference in the QOL as perceived by filarial lymphedema patients and healthy individuals reiterates the importance of morbidity control in patients affected by this disease.
Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 02/2012; · 1.06 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Health effects due to air pollution is becoming a major public health problem with growing traffic congestion and establishment of small- to medium-scale industries with poor emission controls in urban cities of Sri Lanka. METHODS: Respiratory health status of 7- to 10-year-old children in two settings (urban and semi-urban) was assessed using standard questionnaires. Information on socio-demographic characteristics and potential determinants of both outdoor and indoor air pollutants exposure levels were also obtained. The respiratory health status of children in the two settings was compared. RESULTS: We found that children from the urban setting had a significantly higher prevalence of wheezing within the last 12 months as compared to children from the semi-urban setting (adjusted OR = 2.02; 95% CI = 1.13-3.59). Indoor cooking with unclean fuels was a risk factor for wheezing independent of the area of residence (adjusted OR = 1.57; 95% CI = 1.01-2.46). CONCLUSIONS: Poor indoor air quality was a major determinant of wheezing for the overall study group. Children from urban areas of Sri Lanka have poorer respiratory health status as compared to children from semi-urban areas. Besides poor outdoor air quality, this difference may also be due to other unexplored factors which may differ between urban and semi-urban areas in Sri Lanka. Am. J. Ind. Med. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine 02/2012; · 1.63 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Although environmental and occupational health (EOH) research and services in Sri Lanka have a long history, policies related to EOH are outdated. METHODS: We review the International Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health (ITREOH) program in Sri Lanka that commenced in 2006 as a collaboration between the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. RESULTS: The program has trained over 20 scientists in conducting EOH research. New pioneering research in EOH was initiated. The program was instrumental in furthering the training and research in EOH by initiating a MPH degree program, the first in the country. CONCLUSIONS: The program has established North-South, South-South and in-country collaborations between institutions and scientists, increasing the visibility of EOH in the future. Am. J. Ind. Med. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine 12/2011; · 1.63 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Biomass cooking fuel is the main source of indoor air pollution in the majority of households in the developing world. Sri Lanka is an island of about 20 million population with urban, rural, and estate population of 14.6%, 80.0%, and 5.4%, respectively. This study describes biomass fuel use for cooking in Sri Lanka. METHODS: We analyzed data from two national Demographic Health Surveys (2000 and 2007) to identify the use and determinants of cooking fuels in Sri Lankan households. The results are based on a sample of 8,169 households in 2000 and 19,862 households in 2007. RESULTS: Wood was the principal cooking fuel used in 78.3% and 78.5% of households in 2000 and 2007, respectively. In 2007, 96.3% of estate sector households used firewood as compared to 84.2% in the rural and 34.6% in the urban sectors. Similar trends were noted in 2000 as well. CONCLUSIONS: The shift from firewood to cleaner fuels in Sri Lanka is negligible from 2000 to 2007. Improving the quality of life of the population does not necessarily predict a shift towards the use of cleaner cooking fuels in Sri Lanka. Am. J. Ind. Med. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine 11/2011; · 1.63 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Air pollution is increasingly documented as a threat to public health in most developing countries. Evaluation of current air quality levels, regulatory standards and scientific literature on outdoor and indoor air pollution, and health effects are important to identify the burden, develop and implement interventions and to fill knowledge gaps in Sri Lanka.
PUBMED and Medline databases, local journals and conference proceedings were searched for epidemiologic studies pertaining to air pollution and health effects in Sri Lanka. All the studies pertaining to air pollution and health effects were considered.
Sixteen studies investigated the association between exposure to ambient or indoor air pollution (IAP) and various health outcomes ranging from respiratory symptoms, low birth weight and lung cancers. Of the sixteen, three used a case control design. Half of the studies collected exposure data only through questionnaires. There were positive associations between air pollution and adverse health effects in all studies. Methodological limitations in most of the studies resulted in poor quantification of risk estimates.
A limited number of epidemiological studies in Sri Lanka have investigated the health effects of air pollution. Based on findings of studies and reported air quality levels, air pollution may be considered a neglected public health problem in Sri Lanka.
BMC Public Health 01/2010; 10:300. · 2.00 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Plasmodium ovale, which is generally prevalent only in the African region, has been emerging in the Asian and southeast Asian regions. It has not been reported in Sri Lanka. We report, to our knowledge, an indigenous case of P. ovale infection in Sri Lanka. This patient, who was diagnosed by a polymerase chain reaction, had no history of travel overseas or receipt of a transfusion of blood or any blood products, which makes this a likely case of indigenous transmission. This incidental finding of a P. ovale infection has implications for malaria control in the country and highlights the need to rigorously monitor malaria incidence, as well as prevalent Plasmodium species, with newer and more reliable diagnostics.
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 03/2008; 78(2):206-7. · 2.59 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka commenced a vitamin A supplementation programme of school children with a megadose of 105 micromol (100,000 IU) vitamin A in school years 1, 4 and 7 (approximately 5-, 9- and 12-year-olds, respectively) in 2001. We evaluated the vitamin A supplementation programme of school children in a rural area of Sri Lanka. A cross-sectional study was conducted among children supplemented with an oral megadose of vitamin A (105 micromol; n 452) and children not supplemented (controls; n 294) in Grades 1-5. Children were clinically examined and a sample of blood was taken for serum vitamin A concentration estimation by HPLC. Socio-demographic information was obtained from children or mothers. Supplemented children had a higher proportion of males and stunted children, were younger and lived under poorer conditions as compared to controls. There was no difference in the prevalences of eye signs and symptoms of vitamin A deficiency in the two groups. Supplemented children had higher serum vitamin A concentrations than controls (1.4 (SD 0.49) micromol/l v. 1.2 (SD 0.52) micromol/l). The serum vitamin A concentrations were 1.6 (SD 0.45), 1.4 (SD 0.50), 1.3 (SD 0.44) and 1.1 (SD 0.43) micromol/l in children supplemented within 1, 1-6, 7-12 and 13-18 months of supplementation, respectively. Vitamin A concentrations were significantly greater than controls if supplementation was carried out within 6 months after adjustment. The oral megadose of 105 micromol vitamin A maintained serum vitamin A concentrations for 6 months in school children.
British Journal Of Nutrition 02/2007; 97(1):153-9. · 3.01 Impact Factor
