THE STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF FLOODS ON HEALTH SECTOR IN RATNAPURA DISTRICT

Dr.O.K.P CHATHRAPANI

ABSTRACT

There is an increase trend of natural disasters in Sri Lanka. Flood is the most frequently occurring natural disaster identified throughout the year in Sri Lanka. Ratnapura district is reported as one of the most vulnerable areas for flood due to its topographical features. Elapatha divisional secretariat division in Ratnapura district is recorded as the highest number of families affected due to flood in 2018. Therefore, Elapatha divisional secretariat division acts as a representative of Ratnapura districts in this study.

This study concentrates on the traumatic and non-traumatic health risk in the flood affected community, pattern of communicable diseases, economic loss due to negative impact of floods on health and the effectiveness of public health care during floods in 2017 to 2019 period.

A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in 87 households selected randomly in Elapatha divisional secretariat division. The relationship between variables were examined by using Chisquare test. The variable “number of families affected” is represented as the the proxy variable of the impact of flood. The findings reveals that there is a strong relationship between the number of families affected and the number of families had communicable diseases during floods. Therefore, it can be concluded that the impact of flood on health sector is statistically significant. Recommendations highlighting the role of communities and other stakeholders in flood related health risk management are proffered.