A glimpse of world literature on injury / burn prevention

	1993 - The WHO stated that “Injuries are the No 1 cause of death among children and young adults, accounting for a third of all hospital admissions world-wide. Yet, ………many nations don’t place injury prevention high on their list of priorities”
	2000 - The International Society for Burn Injuries stated that “The vast majority of burns can be prevented”.
	2000 - Two surgeons from the Oregon University stated that “More and more effective burn prevention programs are needed”.
	1993 - On the ‘World Health Day’, the WHO stated that “communities can design and execute excellent injury reduction programs”. More than a year earlier, in 1992, Dr. Godakumbura did just that. He addressed the ‘burning’ problem of accidental kerosene burns in Sri Lanka and came out with a quick, simple and practical solution.
	2007 - More recently, the WHO stated that “Burn deaths are lowest in high-income countries due to a range of interventions such as smoke alarms, ………, but in low-and middle income countries (LMICs), they are yet to be widely adopted and the mortality rates remain high”.

Note: Sri Lanka’s Safe Bottle Lamp Project, launched 18 years ago is one of only two burn prevention programs to come up in any LMIC.

The project

Due to several reasons, provision of electricity to homes is not fast enough. The initial cost of solar power is too high and its installation in distant villages does take time. A solitary moment of inattention is all that is needed for a fatal burn to occur; so speed matters when considering a solution. Our project was launched to solve the problem swiftly, by way of a simple safe lamp that could be mass produced at low cost using recycled glass.

Way back in 1965, there was a reference to kerosene lamps by the WHO as follows, in their book ‘Domestic Accidents’. “The bottle lamp is a simple kerosene burner that readily ignites the saris of women working near to it. There is a campaign in Sri Lanka to introduce a safe lamp”. Sadly, it had soon flopped and no body did anything in this regard in Sri Lanka for the next 27 years until Dr Godakumbura launched his campaign in 1992. However, at an international course held in USA nine years previously, i.e., in 1983, the WHO and Johns Hopkins University introduced a kerosene lamp that would not cause burns. Quote: “The highly dangerous home made ‘bottle lamp’ can be made stable. An open tin can is attached to a small piece of wood, and the bottle is placed inside the can”. Unquote: The ‘stable’ lamp they proposed is less prone to tipping, but it had no screw-on metal wick carrier. It is said that it was not too popular in the countries where it was tried, probably because people had to fish around for tins and pieces of wood to make them themselves!

A readymade handy safe lamp:

There were two options to find a safe alternative to unsafe lamps.

1. Same lamp, but a different (i.e. non flammable) fuel

2. Same fuel, but a different (i.e. safe) lamp

Dr. Godakumbura tried a few vegetable oils first, but they were ineffective as they failed to ascend in the metal tube that carries the cotton wick, unlike kerosene. So he designed a lamp that would be safe even with kerosene. It was named ‘Sudeepa’ and it:

          » Is squat and heavy, so that it would not tip easily
          » Has a near globular shape and thick glass, so that it does not crack if it falls
          » Has 2 flat sides, so that it would not roll if it does tip
          » Has a screw-on metal lid, to prevent oil spill if it does tip
          » Is capable of mass production at low cost
          » Could be used for several years, as there are no delicate or moving parts

The WHO, Unicef, the International Society for Burn Injuries, two Sri Lankan Medical Associations, S/L Inventors’ Commission and S/L Health Ministry have approved this lamp.

‘Sudeepa’ safe lamp		No fire even if they do tip (from a stock made with a Canadian Embassy donation; hence their logo).

Rationale for the use of our lamps:

Elimination of agents that cause various diseases and injuries will in turn prevent those diseases and injuries. E.g.:

1. Governments are eliminating mosquito breeding places to eradicate malaria.
2. Governments are destroying cannabis and poppy vegetations to control drug usage.
3. Armed forces are destroying terrorists and their hideouts to eliminate terrorism.

Thus it is clear, that there would be no kerosene lamp burns if people discard their unsafe lamps.

Commendations in Medical Literature:

	2006 - ‘Burns in low and middle income countries’ by Dr S N Forjuoh of the Texas University, USA. Excerpts: “Flame burns could be reduced dramatically if people used safe kerosene lamps redesigned according to Sri Lanka’s Safe Bottle Lamp Project”.
	2006 - ‘Burns: A Sri Lankan Experience’ by Dr. Y S Lau of the Oxford University, UK. Excerpts: “In Sri Lanka, the lack of government initiative …… precludes effective prevention programs. A successful campaign is conducted by Sri Lanka’s Safe Bottle Lamp Foundation, which has justifiably received international acclaim. It was founded by Sri Lankan surgeon, Dr. Wijaya Godakumbura………... The impact his safe lamps will have on reducing bottle lamp burns is enormous”.
	2008 - WHO and Unicef: ‘World Report on Child Injury Prevention’. Excerpts: “A lamp that is safe even with kerosene is currently being marketed in Sri Lanka to good effect”

When we started our campaign eighteen years ago there were 60 - 80 bottle lamp burn deaths every year in our country, Sri Lanka; now they are much less.

Our other activities:

»Collection of funds, to manufacture safe lamps.

»Giving out our safe lamps free in different areas.

»Promotional activities in the media, at exhibitions and meetings, and through posters and flyers

»Advising people not to pour kerosene to burning lamps, not to let children handle kerosene lamps, not to hang them on walls, how to extinguish flames when clothes catch fire (‘stop, fall and roll’) and what first aid to give (‘water therapy’),

»Advising people how to avoid LP gas burns.

» A study involving 487 burn victims admitted to the main hospital of the country (done a few years
ago).

» Presentations on our work. 14 were made in foreign soil:

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