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PurposeLocalism refers to a concept that encourages local production, consumption and promotion of goods. It is a movement to encourage consumers and businesses to purchase from locally owned, independent businesses that has grown rapidly in the past decade. However, localism remains understudied by researchers. This study aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the localism movement by capturing the dynamism of fashion localism in the context of the Sri Lankan fashion retail sector.Design/methodology/approachAdopting a qualitative exploratory approach, the authors conducted a series of in-depth interviews with 12 fashion practitioners.FindingsBased on the findings, the authors propose a conceptual model of fashion localism consisting of eight themes: fashion localism design approach, locally sourced staples, land ethic, employee development, community development, consumer, regulations and limitations and future opportunities.Originality/valueThis research sheds some light on localism literature by capturing the dynamism of fashion localism. In particular, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this research is the first study in marketing to propose a conceptual model of fashion localism. This research further points out certain managerial implications by illustrating a few practical approaches to the concept of localism within the Sri Lankan fashion retail sector.
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Lockdown measures adopted to contain the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in severe disruptions to mobility, both in demand and supply of passenger and goods transport and supply chain activities globally. This research was designed to understand the immediate reactions of households and society during the curfew imposed in Sri Lanka, a developing country, to curb the spread of the pandemic. This paper investigates psychometric perceptions across different socio-economic characteristics of households using statistical techniques to explore the association between the sample and population parameters. Results prominently indicate that these immediate impacts of health advisories and lockdown on personal mobility and consumption patterns were short-term in nature and unlikely to continue beyond the curfew. These results would be useful in understanding how society would deal with a similar unforeseen event in the future if it were to arise. © 2023 The Authors
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Introduction: At the beginning of the pandemic, I was working in University Hospital of Leicester (UHL), a leading hospital in UK as a speciality doctor as a part of post graduate training in anaesthesia of Sri Lanka. 5 months into the pandemic, I find my self returning to Sri Lanka after the training and only to be appointed as a consultant anaesthetist in a designated COVID treatment hospital. This is my story of converting a normal ICU space to a COVID -ICU. Main body: The pandemic came late to Sri Lanka. Even after 5 months of pandemic, the Intensive care unit in a designated COVID hospital was not ready to accept any patients. Leaving UK, at the peak of pandemic after a steep learning curve, I realised that we Sri Lankans are just living on borrowed time. Being a developed country, UK also experienced inadequacies with manpower and equipment. Looking at a low income country like Sri Lanka, the challenges of converting the space in to COVID ICU seemed to be impossible. Starting from the scratch, with the constant encouragement of the colleges and authorities, a COVID ICU was built at a Base Hospital - Teldeniya, which was situated 15 miles away from a city. UHL was able to increase its ICU capacity within days. Most hospitals in UK did this within days to weeks. The story was not the same for Sri Lanka. People took time to realise the need for the COVID ICU. This made me desperate and sad thinking about the support the ICU authorities had at UHL. Our ICU started with one bed, adding to the total of 14 designated ICU beds in Sri Lanka. This number was bearable, as the number of reported cases were low all over the country. With the beginning of the year 2021, the number of reported COVID-19 cases gradually increased, with more patients needing ICU admissions. The bed number at BH Teldeniya was also increased to 5, but with minimal resources. When the pandemic reached its peak in early 2021, the miracle happened. There was an island wide appeal to donate equipment for COVID ICUs in Sri Lanka. This made people to change their attitude about the disease and about the COVID - ICUs. Generous donors from all over Sri Lanka and from overseas got together for this good cause. With no time, my ICU was well equipped with all kinds of sophisticated equipment. My greatest winning was to obtain a liquid oxygen plant to the hospital, allowing me to use high flow nasal oxygen therapy in deserving patients. Today, BH Teldeniya serves it maximum to the critically ill COVID-19 patients. Now I can sleep well in the night thinking that, my patients will get the same treatment as a patient in UHL. The unit is well equipped, and I can even lend equipment to ward HDUs. All this was possible due to simple thoughts of Sri Lankans. Conclusion: In 20 years' time, I will look back at the time of pandemic and be proud of my journey from a developed country to a developing country to make the difference that would change the fate of critically ill Sri Lankans.
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Background: Obesity is a chronic inflammatory condition that increases the risk of multiple non-communicable diseases. Thus, impairing the quality of life. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among Sri-Lankan adults were 25.5 and 9.2 in 2010 with a rising trend adding a huge burden on the health sector. Overweight and obesity is rising even among the rural farming communities in Sri-Lanka, reflecting the double burden of malnutrition. The escalating trend can be attributed to easy accessibility leading to increased consumption of energy-dense food and increased sedentary behaviour which has replaced the traditional farming methods. The burden was further increased due to multiple effects of COVID 19 lockdown. Medical nutrition therapy with the 'plate model' is an effective method of weight reduction by portion size control of staple food and by increasing non-starchy vegetables and protein intake. The objective of the study was to assess the outcomes of the 'plate model' as a dietary intervention among patients with overweight and obesity. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted using secondary data of 281 overweight and obese patients who attended the medical nutrition clinic from January - June 2021. Inclusion criteria captured all patients above 19 years of age who attended the clinic at least once. All patients were counselled regarding the plate model by medical officers who have post-graduate qualifications in clinical nutrition. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Results: Out of the total observed patients, 77% were females and 23% were males. The median age was 45 years with 31.7% between 40 - 49 years and 7.8% above the age of 60 years. Distribution within each BMI category was similar among both genders, with 45% of both females and males belonging to obesity class 1. More than 80% of patients' occupation was related to agriculture. Defaulted follow up was 69% while 31% had subsequent clinic visits. Among the followed-up patients (n=88) the majority (46.8%) have lost less than 0.5kg per week, while 37.5 % lost more than 0.5kg per week. Among the patients who lost weight less than 0.5kg per week (n= 42), 52% belonged to overweight category and 50% to morbidly obese category. It was also revealed that 53% of patients who lost weight more than 0.5kg per week were in the obesity class 1 category. Conclusion: The study suggests the 'plate model' along with regular and close monitoring is an effective method of weight reduction. Results also indicate the need for increasing awareness on the importance of clinic follow up. Further research is needed to evaluate the reasons for a higher number of defaulters.
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Purpose: The dosing interval for AZD1222/Covishield vaccine was prolonged for ≥16 weeks, due to short supply in Sri Lanka. As robust secondary immune response depends on the presence of memory B cell (Bmem), we investigated their frequency following a single dose of the AZD1222. Methods & Materials: Bmem responses were assessed to S1, S2 and N protein of the SARS-CoV-2 by B cell ELISpot assays in 45 individuals after ≥16 weeks of receiving a single dose of the vaccine. The mean±2 SD of the background responses was defined as the threshold for positive response of antibody secreting cells (ASCs)/1 million cells. Results: In this cohort, 40/45 (88.9%) individuals responded to S1, 39/45 (86.7%) to S2 and 36/45 (80%) to N. Responses to S1 (p<0.0001, median 90, IQR 50 to 137.5 ASCs/1 million cells) and S2 (p=0.0067, median 70, IQR 47.5 to 97.5 ASCs/1 million cells) were significantly higher than N (median 50, IQR 22.5 to 80 ASCs/1 million cells). A significant difference in the frequency of responses to S1 (p=0.0017) and S2 (p=0.046), were seen in different age groups, with a higher frequency of ASCs to S1 and S2 proteins in individuals age between 40-60 and >60 years of age, compared to younger individuals. There was a significant, positive correlation for the frequency of ASCs to S1 (Spearman's r=0.49, p=0.0007), S2 (Spearman's r=0.32, p=0.0308) and N (Spearman's r=0.33, p=0.0274) with age. Conclusion: 86.7% to 88.9% of individuals had Bmem to the spike protein of the virus, suggesting that a single dose of the vaccine, induced potent Bmem responses. Although 80% of individuals had a low frequency of responses to the N protein, which was not present in the vaccine, this could be due to the presence of cross reactive Bmem responses to N protein of previous beta-coronavirus infections, in older individuals.