Reduction in Blood Lead Concentration in Children across the Republic of Georgia following Interventions to Address Widespread Exceedance of Reference Value in 2019

Ekaterine Ruadze, Giovanni S. Leonardi, Ayoub Saei, Irma Khonelidze, Lela Sturua, Vladimer Getia, Helen Crabbe, Tim Marczylo, Paolo Lauriola and Amiran Gamkrelidze
Additional contact information
Ekaterine Ruadze: The National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia, Tbilisi 0198, Georgia
Giovanni S. Leonardi: UK Health Security Agency, Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Harwell Campus, Didcot OX11 0RQ, UK
Ayoub Saei: UK Health Security Agency, Statistics Unit, Department of Statistics, Modelling and Economics, London NW9 5EQ, UK
Irma Khonelidze: The National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia, Tbilisi 0198, Georgia
Lela Sturua: The National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia, Tbilisi 0198, Georgia
Vladimer Getia: The National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia, Tbilisi 0198, Georgia
Helen Crabbe: UK Health Security Agency, Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Harwell Campus, Didcot OX11 0RQ, UK
Tim Marczylo: UK Health Security Agency, Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Harwell Campus, Didcot OX11 0RQ, UK
Paolo Lauriola: International Society of Doctors for the Environment-Italy (ISDE-Italy), 42122 Modena, Italy
Amiran Gamkrelidze: The National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia, Tbilisi 0198, Georgia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-11

Abstract: In recent years, reports of lead contamination have dramatically increased in Georgia. Given concerns about the exposure of children to lead (Pb), the National Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS-2018) included a blood sampling component. The results showed that 41% of the children that participated had blood Pb levels (BLL) ? 5 µg/dL and that BLL in children living in Western Georgia were higher than those in Eastern regions. In response to these findings, NCDC implemented written and verbal advice to the families of children who participated in the MICS-2018 on how to reduce Pb exposure. From August 2019 onwards, the state program of clinical follow-up was implemented. The design of this study was a longitudinal study. The intervention of interest was the public health advice and medical follow-up, and the outcome was defined as the difference in BLL between the MICS-2018 survey and the state program follow-up. We observed a significant overall reduction in median BLL between MICS-2018 and state program follow-up in both August 2019 and the latest results (until December 2019). However, we did not observe any significant further reduction between August and the most recent BLL results. In the Georgian setting, written and verbal communication targeting individual households, alongside home visits to the most exposed, effectively reduced BLL in children.

Keywords: lead (Pb); Georgia; public health interventions; state program; written and verbal communication; multiple stakeholder response (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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