Abstract:
The main objective of this research was to conduct a sociological analysis of the impact on the rural social structure by the spread of the kidney disease within the Vavuniya South, Welioya, Medawachchiya, Medirigiriya and Wilgamuwa Divisional Secretariat divisions in Sri Lanka’s Northern and North-Central Provinces. The research also focused on the impacts caused on the rural economy, children’s education, security, the family unit and social relations. This research is a mix of both, the quantitative and qualitative methods. A questionnaire was used to obtain the quantitative data while key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FDGs) were used for the qualitative data. While the SPSS software was used for the data analysis, Atlas ti was used through thematic analysis for the qualitative data analysis. While 77% of the patients were those engaged in the agricultural sector and labourers, the impact on their economies is higher, since they are unable engage in their daily activities. The children were school dropouts due to the inability to obtain the finances, equipment and materials for their educational activities, and due to the lack of proper security they were evidently attracted towards romantic affairs, under-aged marriages, illegal and anti-social activities. Despite there being family disputes prevalent among around 10% of the patients, the majority were found to be caring to the patients. Though the provision of potable water through Reverse Osmosis (RO) machines has caused a considerable decrease in the spread of the disease, there is no proper regulation of these machines. It can be stated that while quality advisory services, livelihood development, encouraging children towards vocational education etc. are suitable, a more productive conclusion could be reached if all the high-risk Divisional Secretariat Divisions in the island are included in these, without it being limited only to these five Divisional Secretariat Divisions.
