As temperatures rise globally, the impact is being felt most by those least responsible – the farmers working long hours under the sun to feed their families and nations. In June 2025, the Planetary Health team of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI), together with collaborators from Duke University, University of Jaffna - one of SDGHI’s regional collaborating centres - and University of Ruhuna travelled across Sri Lanka to see and hear first-hand how climate change is affecting the health and livelihoods of local farming communities.
This field visit marks the beginning of a new research project: “Heat stress, kidney health, and the lived experience of communities on the climate frontlines in Sri Lanka.” The project, one of the recipients of a Research Collaboration Pilot Project grant between Duke University and Duke-NUS Medical School, aims to unpack how prolonged heat exposure impacts kidney health and how climate change is reshaping the lives of farming communities.
Chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology (CKDu) is quietly devastating farming communities across Sri Lanka. Men in their 30s are succumbing to kidney failure, and worrying signs are now being observed in children. This poorly understood illness has been called a “quintessential climate-sensitive disease” and rising temperatures are suspected to be a major contributor.