Occupational illnesses and injuries are costing China 100
billion yuan (US$12.5 billion) in direct losses every year, a
senior health official has warned.
And the indirect costs could double the figure to US$25 billion,
said Li Tao, head of the Occupational Health and Poisons Control
Institute under China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC).
The incidence of occupational diseases had become a serious
public health issue affecting social stability, said the
Workers' Daily on Sunday, which reported Li's call for
stricter health and safety measures.
Li called for greater public awareness of the health of migrant
workers and better monitoring of small and medium-sized
enterprises.
Some local governments had long ignored the prevention and
control of occupational diseases, while focusing on economic
growth, resulting in poor supervision and law enforcement.
"Many projects were launched without an assessment of their
impacts on occupational health and approval criteria were lowered
in order to attract investment," Li said.
More than 30 industries were involved in occupational disease
control. However, many enterprises, especially small and
medium-sized firms, had few or no measures to protect workers'
health.
Scientific research and education of occupational health in
universities was getting weak and fewer scholars were interested in
the subject. Most occupational healthcare institutes were located
in big cities in the eastern regions.
These factors had led to a shortage of occupational health
professionals and great disparities in care between the east and
west, big and small cities, urban and rural regions, large and
small enterprises, and fixed and migrant employees, Li said.
Twenty-six in-service provincial occupational healthcare
institutes provided services to 218,000 enterprises with toxic and
harmful production.
On average, every institute dealt with 8,385 enterprises and
every occupational health professional serves 4,713 workers.
Employees in low-profit and township enterprises had no access
to occupational healthcare, and rural workers in urban cities faced
high risks of occupational illness due to their high mobility, Li
said.
The number of migrant workers is estimated at 120 million and
the workforce in rural enterprises amounts to 80 million, according
to a recent report by the State Council.
By the end of 2005, China recorded 665,043 cases of occupational
illness, including 606,891 cases of pneumoconiosis, a chronic
disease of the lungs resulting from long-term inhalation of dust
and primarily affecting miners, sandblasters and metal
grinders.
Nearly 10,000 new cases of pneumoconiosis emerged each year. On
average, each pneumoconiosis patient suffered an annual financial
loss of 34,100 yuan (US$4,300), said Li.
"Based on the current total of pneumoconiosis patients in China,
which is 440,000, the annual direct economic loss caused by the
illness would exceed 14 billion yuan, and it's increasing by 600
million yuan with new cases each year," he warned.
According to Vice Health Minister Chen Xiaohong, workers
contracting pneumoconiosis are getting younger, with an average age
of 40 and the youngest patient just 20 years old in 2005. The
shortest period between first contact with dust and showing
symptoms was less than three months.
Most occupational illness patients, including pneumoconiosis
victims, have been rural and migrant workers in coal mines,
township enterprises or other work in harmful and toxic
conditions.
The Ministry of Health is conducting a nationwide survey of the
200 million rural and migrant workers, and has vowed to provide
basic occupational health services for them.
It would also set up a pilot network to improve reporting and
monitoring of illnesses as the existing system was incomplete, said
Su Zhi, deputy head of the ministry's supervision division.
He also suggested health files to be set up at migrant workers'
hometowns, to which they usually returned during the traditional
new year period, so that their state of health could be
monitored.
The ministry and the State Administration of Work Safety are to
jointly improve monitoring of occupational disease control and
educate employers on the law and social responsibility.
In April, the two departments and the All-China Federation of
Trade Unions awarded 56 enterprises with the accolade "State model
enterprise for occupational health", and they are expected to share
and publicize their experience with other enterprises.
(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2006)