Free health checks and education will be offered to Shanghai's 100,000 taxi drivers - who face stressful, long working shifts.

"This follows a program providing health education and free checkups to taxi drivers in Beijing two years ago. About 10,000 taxi drivers took part and more than 1,000 received free examinations," said Li Chengzhi, manager of Shanghai Ciming Health Checkup.

"Taxi driving is a job with a high workload, unhealthy lifestyle and lots of stress."

The Beijing program found 61.4 percent of drivers had fatty livers and 50.6 percent had high cholesterol. About one-third of the drivers didn't realize they had health problems.

Shanghai Ciming plans to launch the program to educate drivers on health in two months, and offer free checkups to 800 to 1,000 drivers. Many work 20 hours a shift.

Local taxi drivers said high stress and difficulty in finding toilets were the two main threats to their health.

"Fatigue and pressure result in some drivers having high blood pressure. Since many drivers have to wait to urinate while working, prostatitis and other related diseases are common,” said Jin Kangsheng, a veteran driver at Shanghai Dazhong Taxi Co, which arranges checkup every two years.

Smaller companies seldom provide regular checks for staff. "My company doesn't have such concern for our welfare. The authorities should issue policies to protect our health," said Zhang Guohua, a driver from Shanghai Jinqiu Taxi Co.

Officials from Shanghai Taxi Association said companies are not required to check drivers' health, but the association has helped negotiate with the government to allow drivers to use public toilets.

(Shanghai Daily July 24, 2007)