scholarly journals A Cost-of-Illness analysis of β-Thalassaemia major in children in Sri Lanka

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamish Reed-Embleton ◽  
Savinda Arambepola ◽  
Simon Dixon ◽  
Behrouz Nezafat Maldonado ◽  
Anuja Premawardhena ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sri Lanka has a high prevalence of β-thalassaemia major. Clinical management is complex and long-term and includes regular blood transfusion and iron chelation therapy. The economic burden of β-thalassaemia for the Sri Lankan healthcare system and households is currently unknown. Methods A prevalence-based, cost-of-illness study was conducted on the Thalassaemia Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Kandy Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka. Data were collected from clinical records, consultations with the head of the blood bank and a consultant paediatrician directly involved with the care of patients, alongside structured interviews with families to gather data on the personal costs incurred such as those for travel. Results Thirty-four children aged 2-17 years with transfusion dependent thalassaemia major and their parent/guardian were included in the study. The total average cost per patient year to the hospital was $US 2601 of which $US 2092 were direct costs and $US 509 were overhead costs. Mean household expenditure was $US 206 per year with food and transport per transfusion ($US 7.57 and $US 4.26 respectively) being the highest cost items. Nine (26.5%) families experienced catastrophic levels of healthcare expenditure (>10% of income) in the care of their affected child. The poorest households were the most likely to experience such levels of expenditure.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamish Reed-Embleton ◽  
Savinda Arambepola ◽  
Simon Dixon ◽  
Behrouz Nezafat Maldonado ◽  
Anuja Premawardhena ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Sri Lanka has a high prevalence of b-thalassaemia major. Clinical management is complex and long-term and includes regular blood transfusion and iron chelation therapy. The economic burden of β-thalassaemia for the Sri Lankan healthcare system and households is currently unknown.Methods: A prevalence-based, cost-of-illness study was conducted on the Thalassaemia Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Kandy Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka. Data were collected from clinical records, consultations with the head of the blood bank and a consultant paediatrician directly involved with the care of patients, alongside structured interviews with families to gather data on the personal costs incurred such as those for travel. Results: Thirty-four children aged 2-17 years with transfusion dependent thalassaemia major and their parent/guardian were included in the study. The total average cost per patient year to the hospital was $US 2601 of which $US 2092 were direct costs and $US 509 were overhead costs. Mean household expenditure was $US 206 per year with food and transport per transfusion ($US 7.57 and $US 4.26 respectively) being the highest cost items. Nine (26.5%) families experienced catastrophic levels of healthcare expenditure (>10% of income) in the care of their affected child. The poorest households were the most likely to experience such levels of expenditure. Conclusions: β-thalassaemia major poses a significant economic burden on health services and the families of affected children in Sri Lanka. Greater support is needed for the high proportion of families that suffer catastrophic out-of-pocket costs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niromi Seram ◽  
Julian Nanayakkara ◽  
Gamini Lanarolle

Purpose The suppliers are recognized as important external sources who can significantly contribute by working together with the buyer during the innovation process. Operational capabilities of suppliers can be one of the considerable factors when selecting them to participate in the activities at the front-end of innovation. However, proper understanding of the influence of operational capabilities of suppliers on front-end decision-making in apparel product innovation is still very limited particularly in the context of the Sri Lankan apparel industry. Therefore, this study aims to explore the influence of operational capabilities of suppliers on the front-end decision making in apparel product innovation in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach Both semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey were used as data collection techniques. Six senior managers for the interviews and 60 participants for the questionnaire were randomly selected. All those who participated in interviews and the questionnaire respondents have been involved in the front-end of innovation in different apparel manufacturing organizations in Sri Lanka. Findings The results indicated that the operational capabilities of suppliers had a direct positive influence on front-end decision-making, and the suppliers’ production flexibility was found to be the most influential. Further, the results highlighted that 27.3% of the front-end decisions associated with apparel product innovation in Sri Lanka were influenced by the factors governing operational capabilities of suppliers. Originality/value The findings of the research will be beneficial for both academia and industry. The findings will be useful to extend the current understanding and make a noteworthy contribution to this topic and to provide useful and practical guidance to material suppliers and supporting industries who work with Sri Lankan apparel manufacturing.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.D. Wijeratne ◽  
◽  
K.A.K. Devapriya ◽  
S.D. Gallage ◽  
◽  
...  

Building construction contributes to a substantial consumption of raw materials compared to other sectors in Sri Lanka. Despite the excessive consumption of raw materials, industry is suffering due to low productivity and economic inefficiency. Thus, the circumstance has led to employ alternative building materials to overcome productivity and cost inefficiency with favourable impacts on sustainability. Polymer has become a global phenomenon with increasing demand as sustainable alternative. Polymer facilitates multiple applications in building construction due to its supreme properties and characteristics. Thus, this research focused develop a quantitative model based on factors related to productivity enhancement and cost reduction to measure the applicability of polymer materials in Sri Lankan building construction. A mixed approach consisting of semi structured interviews followed by a questionnaire survey was adapted for conduct this study. 12 experts were selected for the semi structured interviews and 34 respondents participated for the questionnaire survey. The significance of favourable impact to the productivity and cost efficiency of using polymer materials have been identified in the study. The study discussed the applicability of polymer types in building sector in Sri Lanka and derived resulted in a quantitative model to measure applicability of polymer adoption in the terms of productivity and cost related factors. Study concluded that inherent properties of polymers, buildability, ability to prefabricate, life cycle cost, handling would improve the applicability to local context. Further, relationship identified through the regression model would assist practitioners to select polymer materials while enabling researchers to improve the quality of the products.


Author(s):  
Kusalika Ariyarathne ◽  
Pavithra Jayarathne

Preliminary results of a numerical model developed to detail spatial and temporal assessment of theoretically available near shore wave energy, and potential wave energy extracting sites, along the Sri Lankan coast is presented in this paper. Wave energy is estimated applying Danish Hydraulic Institute's Mike 21 Spectral Wave (SW) module. The model is developed and applied covering an area along the coast line of entire country extending from 315000 to 640000 mE, and 602000 to 1164000 mN. Model was run with boundary inputs of wind and wave, based on long term measured, and long term hindcast directional wave data available at seven locations, which are well distributed around the country. Model calibration and validation are carried out based on long term measured directional wave data at Colombo, Sri Lanka. Based on the estimated wave energy density maps, and spatial and temporal energy variations, Hambantota, in South East coast is identified as the most feasible location for wave energy harnessing. Annual and seasonal availability of the wave energy, for Hambantota area, at 25 m depth, were looked into in detail. In the above area, mean annual energy potential was estimated as 10 kW/m at 25 m depth, whereas maximum annual potential energy was estimated as 36 kW/m. During South West monsoon, where high waves are present, the mean energy potential is estimated as 15 kW/m.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/dPa9istaB7A


Subject Political instability in Sri Lanka. Significance Parliament resumed early last month after being prorogued by President Maithripala Sirisena. Sri Lanka’s National Unity Government (NUG), formed after the 2015 legislative elections, is a coalition between Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP). Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) leads the Joint Opposition (JO). According to the constitution, a two-thirds parliamentary majority would be required for Sirisena to bring forward the next legislative elections due in 2020. Impacts The breakdown in party discipline in parliament suggests instability will be a long-term feature of Sri Lankan politics. Judicial campaigns against the Rajapaksa family will intensify, despite its sustained political influence. Political uncertainty will cause the Sri Lankan rupee to fall further against the dollar.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamish Reed-Embleton ◽  
Savinda Arambepola ◽  
Simon Dixon ◽  
Behrouz Nezafat Maldonado ◽  
Anuja Premawardhena ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-114
Author(s):  
Matti Weisdorf ◽  
Birgitte Refslund Sørensen

Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in and around a so-called War Hero Village (Ranavirugama) in northwestern Sri Lanka, this article traces the social (un)becomings of Sri Lankan Army veterans injured during the civil war with the Tamil liberation front. It argues that such veterans have long been able to draw on a materially rewarding narrative of sacrifice and carnal capital—epitomized in the honorific ranaviru (war hero)—in order to produce a particular kind of veteran citizenship, let alone subjectivity, and thus to pursue socially meaningful post-injury existences. In the eyes of the veterans themselves, however, this celebratory narrative is eroding and a “collective narrative” characterized by a kind of social forgetting of the injured veteran is emerging. Material benefits notwithstanding, this narrative contestation entails a “struggle for recognition” that threatens to leave them not only disabled but also with no one to be, or become.


2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-340
Author(s):  
H Heemstra ◽  
T Zwaan ◽  
M Kern ◽  
B Feldman ◽  
V Blanchette ◽  
...  

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