During the 1960s and 1970s, UNICEF and other NGOs installed several million tube-wells in Bangladesh and other countries in South Asia to prevent water-borne disease that had been major causes of morbidity and mortality, not knowing that the groundwater in some parts of the region is naturally enriched in arsenic (As). It is estimated that >50 million people have been chronically exposed to As in Bangladesh alone. Thousands are experiencing arsenicosis, with As-induced skin lesions, skin and other internal cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular and neurological disease. To address this complex environmental health problem, Columbia University is heavily involved in multidisciplinary research (public health, geochemistry, hydrology) in Bangladesh, with support from the Superfund Basic Research Program and other grants. During the past six years, a small ITREOH program was developed at Columbia which has taught short courses in Bangladesh on topics including Environmental &Occupational Health, Geochemistry, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS);we also successfully recruited and trained PhD students at Columbia University, students whose dissertation research has involved field work in environmental health, and in geochemistry, in Bangladesh. We propose herein a small expansion of our ITREOH program to build capacity to reduce arsenicosis in Bangladesh. The proposed program will be greatly strengthened by partnership with the newly formed James P. Grant School of Public Health of BRAC University (BSPH), in Dhaka. The Mailman School of Public Health, and our ITREOH program, is proud to have played a major role in the creation and implementation of BSPH, which graduated its first MPH class of 25 students in January, 2006. A partner grant from BSPH, which is attached, proposes to establish a Regional Resource Center at BSPH in collaboration with the Steering Committee and Training Faculty of our ITREOH program.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Fogarty International Center (FIC)
Type
International Research Training Grants (D43)
Project #
5D43TW005724-08
Application #
7582396
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZES1-SET-E (D4))
Program Officer
Rosenthal, Joshua
Project Start
2001-09-29
Project End
2012-02-29
Budget Start
2009-03-01
Budget End
2010-02-28
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$168,250
Indirect Cost
Name
Columbia University (N.Y.)
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
621889815
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10032
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Khan, Khalid; Ahmed, Ershad; Factor-Litvak, Pam et al. (2015) Evaluation of an Elementary School-based Educational Intervention for Reducing Arsenic Exposure in Bangladesh. Environ Health Perspect 123:1331-6
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