Browsing by Author "Radhika, N. M. L."

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    Environmental issues associated with the environmental protection area of Thalangama tank in the Western Province of Sri Lanka.
    (International Research Symposium on Pure and Applied Sciences, 2017 Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Radhika, N. M. L.; Padmalal, U. K. G. K.
    Thalangama tank is considered as one of “the shelters for animals and plants inhabiting in and around the city of Colombo” of Sri Lanka, and declared as an Environmental Protection Area (EPA) in 2007. It was built by the great king Parakramabahu VI and is a unique remnant of the historic past. At the time of the survey (June and May, 2009), this valuable wetland was under threat due to the various activities. This study was carried out with the objective of studying the environmental issues associated with the EPA of Thalangama tank. During this study, a pre-tested questionnaire was adopted to gather socio-economic data from the villagers and field visits were also conducted for two months. Five major environmental issues have been highlighted at five locations of EPA. The selected locations were the boundary of Depa Ela, Northern and Eastern boundaries of Thalangama tank, connecting canal of Thalangama tank and Ewarihena wewa and North-Western and Northern boundaries of Ewarihena wewa. The major environmental issues identified were spreading of invasive plant species (Annona glabra, Eichhornia crassipes), improper disposal of solid wastes, water pollution, inappropriate visitor use and poor community participation in environmental management. The ranking system of the issues was consisted of six levels according to the severity of the issue as very low, low, moderate, moderately high, high, and extremely high. Spreading of invasive plant species was extremely high along the North-western and Northern boundaries of Ewarihena wewa, high along the Eastern boundary of the tank and along the boundary of Depa Ela, moderately high along the connecting canal, and moderate along the Northern boundary of the tank. Improper disposal of solid wastes was moderately high along the Eastern boundary and the North-Western and Northern Boundaries of Ewarihena wewa, moderate along the boundary of Depa Ela, the Northern boundary of the tank and along the connecting canal. Water pollution was high along the boundary of Depa Ela, moderately high along the Eastern boundary of the tank, connecting canal and the North-Western and Northern boundary of Ewarihena wewa, but moderate along the Northern boundary of the tank. Improper visitor use was moderately high along the Eastern boundary, moderate along the Northern boundary, low along the connecting canal and along the North-Western and Northern boundary of Ewarihena wewa, but not prominent along the boundary of Depa Ela. Issues arisen due to poor community participation was high along the North-Western and Northern boundary of Ewarihena wewa, moderately high along the Eastern boundary of the tank, and moderate along the boundary of Depa Ela, along the Northern boundary of the tank and along the connecting canal. Therefore, strong sectorial coordination is required to strengthen the village wetland management committee to get the maximum community participation to protect the natural resources of the EPA of Talangama tank in a sensible way.
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    Level of Awareness of Dengue Disease among School Children in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka, and Effect of School-Based Health Education Programmes on Improving Knowledge and Practices.
    (Hindawi Pub. Co., 2019) Radhika, N. M. L.; Gunathilaka, N.; Udayanga, L.; Kasturiratne, A.; Abeyewickreme, W.
    INTRODUCTION:Limited awareness and nonsystematized health education programmes have contributed adversely to the increase in dengue incidence at schools due to limited attention which has positively contributed to the increase in vector receptivity. The current study was conducted to evaluate the existing level of awareness of dengue infection among a selected group of school children and to assess the effectiveness of dengue awareness programmes to improve the existing knowledge and preventive practices on dengue.METHODS:A cohort of 2,194 students (13-15 years old) from 10 schools at Kelaniya educational zone, Gampaha District, Western Province of Sri Lanka, was enrolled for the current study, which was conducted during 2015-2016. A self-administered questionnaire, comprising 20 questions, was used to evaluate the present knowledge of the students on various aspects of dengue. A structured awareness programme (2 hours) was conducted for students, followed by a reassessment. General Linear Model (GLM) and chi-square test of independence were used to investigate the variations in knowledge levels.RESULTS:The majority of students were characterized by "Good" (46.31%, n= 1016) and "Moderate" (42.62%, n= 935) awareness, while only 2.92% (n= 64) of students fell into the "Excellent" (>80%) category prior to the awareness programme. Even though, existing knowledge of students about dengue ranged between "Moderate" and "Good" categories, awareness of "symptoms & patient care" and "control & prevention practices" were limited. After the programme, the awareness level reached the "Excellent" (41.84%, n=918) level indicating a significant increase by 38.92%, according to the chi-square test (p<0.05 at 95% level of confidence).CONCLUSION:We recommend implementing school-based educational programmes in order to raise the awareness and to translate knowledge into sound practice to control dengue disease epidemics in these areas.