The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘120 m. people in developing nations overexposed to lead’

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Saturday, Oct 11, 2008
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‘120 m. people in developing nations overexposed to lead’

Staff Reporter

NRCLPI working on creating awareness among the public on lead poisoning

Programme for members of nursing faculty and students conducted on Friday
Awareness programme for hospital nursing staff on Saturday

Bangalore: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that 120 million people in the developing world are overexposed to lead. This figure is approximately three times the number of people affected by HIV/AIDS. What is more shocking is that 99 per cent of the most severely affected are in the developing world.

The National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning in India (NRCLPI) has taken up the task of creating awareness among the public about the ill-effects of lead poisoning.

To ensure that the message spreads out, NRCLPI has been conducting several programmes, including the LEADer (Lead Educator) scheme.

NRCLPI and St. John’s College of Nursing, for the first time on Friday, conducted an awareness programme for members of the nursing faculty and students from many colleges across the country.

On Saturday, an awareness programme will be held for the hospital nursing staff. Similar programmes have been conducted for schoolteachers, schoolchildren and the general public. Geraldine Menezes, member of the NRCLPI faculty, said that according to a study, 52 per cent of children in seven major cities in the country, aged between six and 14 , have been affected.

“The blood lead level should be 10 mg per decilitre or below. However, the study found that 52 per cent of children have high level of lead in their blood,” she said.

Dr. Menezes said that lead poisoning affects children adversely. “Lead will affect the liver, kidney, intestines and the brain. Affected children will have problems with fine motor skills. In some cases, even the intelligence quotient has decreased,” she said.

K. Chandrashekhar of NRCLPI said that there was not much awareness about lead poisoning even among medical practitioners and para-medical staff.

“Lead poisoning is found among people who work in battery and printing/paint industries. When a patient goes to a doctor, not much attention is paid to his (patient’s) occupation. The patient is treated symptomatically, and poisoning due to exposure to lead may go unnoticed. That is why creating awareness about lead poisoning is important,” he said.

Bindu Mathew, Assistant Professor, St. John’s College of Nursing, said that nurses need to be made aware of the problems and ailments that could arise due to lead poisoning. “Nurses have an important role to play in community health and are also the ones who are in constant touch with the patients and their relatives. Increased awareness will help us disseminate the correct information to the patients,” she said.

More than 100 nursing faculty members and nursing students from colleges across the country participated.

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