The Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences has taken up a study in Uddanam area consisting of Ichhapuram and Kaviti mandals in Srikakulam district to find out the cause of the high rate of chronic kidney diseases (CKD) in the region.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology director and Akademi president and president of the APAS Ch Mohan Rao, vice-president KV Madhava Rao, organising secretary P Rajendra Prasad and convener AS Raghavendra, and former NIN director B Sesikeran said that the Akademi, with the help of various scientific research organisations, was undertaking the study to find out the cause of the high rate of kidney failures in that particular area.
“It has been found that about 60 percent of the people of the area are suffering from kidney-related problems. As many as 116 villages in 27 mandals in the area have high incidence of kidney related problems,” Rajendra Prasad said. The Union department of science and technology(DST) is supporting the initiative.
The team is expected to find the cause of the high rate of kidney failures in the area in the next 18 months. Already, scientists from various scientific organisations and NIMS are visiting the area on a regular basis and are in the process of analysing the causes of kidney failures.
According to the World Health Organization, Uddanam is one of the three regions in the world with the highest concentration of chronic kidney diseases (CKD).
Around 4,000 villagers have died of renal failure in the last decade and almost a third of the population in Uddanam suffers from CKD.
The gravity of the situation had even led to a scientific discussion at the International Congress of Nephrology held in Hong Kong in June this year, where this peculiar phenomenon plaguing the village was termed ‘Uddanam Nephropathy’.
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