Abstract:
Climate change has intensified the occurrence of extreme weather events all over the
world. Frequent and intensified floods are one of the main resulting scenarios that can
be seen in many parts of tropical countries. Sri Lanka has also been prone to highintensity
floods during the past few years. Due to the destructive energy of floods, the
health implications arising from them vary from physical injuries to long-term
psychological effects. Floods can spread disease pathogens, vectors, and airborne
allergens, greatly increasing the vulnerability of a country to epidemics. The main
objective of this study is to examine the relationship between the spatial distributions
of diseases and floods. The Medical Officer of Health areas of Kaduwela and
Kolonnawa Divisional Secretariat Divisions (DSD) were selected for the study and
primary and secondary data were collected. Weekly records of diseases for Public
Health Inspector (PHI) areas were collected and primary data were collected through
a questionnaire survey. Overlay analysis, measures of central tendency, and measures
of dispersion along with regression were used as methods of data analysis. Maps and
charts were used as visualization techniques. According to the data recorded, dengue
cases show an increase during the South West Monsoon period in general and the
number of cases is comparatively high after floods in both the Kaduwela and
Kolonnawa DSDs. The highest number of recorded cases is from the Kolonnawa PHI
area, which is 44 cases per week. In the Kaduwela DSD, the highest number of
recorded cases is from Hokandara, which is 30 cases with an overall average of 20
cases per PHI area. In conclusion, it is clear that there is a relationship between
diseases and floods, especially in relation to dengue, leptospirosis, and skin
inflammations (although there are no secondary records for skin inflammations).
