'ఉద్దానం' పట్టాలెక్కిని పరిశోధనలు

ETVBHARAT

Kidney Disease in Uddanam : గత ప్రభుత్వ హయాంలో ఉద్దానం కిడ్నీ బాధితులకు వైద్యం గాలిలో దీపంలా మారింది. అందనంత దూరంలో ఉన్న ప్రభుత్వ ఆసుపత్రులకు వెళ్లేందుకు ప్రజలు నానా అవస్థలు పడాల్సి వచ్చింది. ఇప్పుడు కూటమి ప్రభుత్వం దీనిపై దృష్టి సారించింది.

Transcript

00:00Srikakulam district, Uddanam district has been suffering from kidney disease for the past 10 years.

00:07To find out the root cause of kidney disease,

00:11the research center was set up with 5.5 crores from the government.

00:16All the people from George Institute came here and did the research.

00:18In the last 5 years, the government was unable to provide proper facilities for the research center.

00:24Again, the government came to buy the research center.

00:27We have a representative from Columbia who will tell us more about the research.

00:37Kidney patients are increasing in Uddanam area day by day.

00:41The government is also trying to reduce this.

00:43The government is providing a lot of money for research.

00:46So, what will be your research and how are you going to explain?

00:49My own role, I arrived here on Saturday evening with several boxes of equipment from the US.

00:55And the equipment that you can see here behind is intended to help the team here from the George Institute

01:01measure, essentially collect samples of drinking water, of soil, of dust,

01:07to try to understand whether the composition, the chemical content,

01:10it could be metals like lead which are toxic or pesticides like glyphosate or paraquat or others,

01:17whether those concentrations are particularly high.

01:20And if they are particularly high, could that be also in the case of the people recruited as part of this cohort study

01:27who have more of the illness.

01:28So, we are trying to establish a correlation between the environment and the disease.

01:32It's a difficult thing to do because there are probably many factors that contribute to the disease,

01:37including genetic factors, but we are starting this here in a systematic way.

01:42Have you done the similar research before?

01:45I did go on two previous trips.

01:47The study conducted in Andhra Pradesh in India is actually part of a consortium

01:51sponsored by the US National Institute of Health.

01:54And there are five Central American countries, and so far I've been also to El Salvador, Costa Rica,

02:00with a similar team conducting a study.

02:02So, we're hoping that by studying it in multiple countries,

02:05we will come more quickly at the answer and hopefully some solutions to reduce the occurrence of this disease.

02:11How long this research will last?

02:13Well, it started several years ago with the planning, and first the writing of the proposal.

02:18That's probably five years ago.

02:19Then the planning, especially if you have a multi-country study that takes a lot of time.

02:24I expect it's at least five to ten years in the future.

02:27That's what I'm hoping.

02:28What kind of technology is being used in this research?

02:32I'm a fan of simple measurements with field kits.

02:36So, we measure things like nitrate in the water.

02:39We test E. coli as a surface to the participants to find out whether their water is microbially clean or not.

02:46But at the same time, back in the US, at Duke University in particular,

02:50some of these pest water samples will be analyzed by very sophisticated methods.

02:55A few years back, George Institute's team also researched this area.

03:00They did some research and they have some primary information.

03:03Did you have the details? If you have the details, you go to further very easily, right?

03:08I'm not aware of any result that says this is the culprit.

03:12This is what we have to avoid doing.

03:14It's probably a combination of factors and that makes it difficult.

03:17And that's why I'm afraid it's going to take another five to ten years to really come closer to the answer.

03:23What kind of support do you get from local authorities and people representatives?

03:27So, I've been very impressed since I arrived, the way I've been received here in Palasa.

03:32The George Institute team is doing a wonderful job.

03:36We have collected our first samples from an official participant in the study.

03:40And the young woman was very welcoming and willing to work with us.

03:43She also showed us where she works at the cashew shelling factory.

03:49It's really been very, very exciting to do this important research with people who want to work with us.

04:06For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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