July 17, 2006
Occupational Health Disparities in China
While we mostly blog about health disparties here in the U.S. it might be worthwhile to occasionally look at health disparities abroad.
In China, where over 90% of the population is of the same ethnicity, occupational health disparities exist.
From the People's Daily Online.
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.
and later.
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.
and the numbers.
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 (4,300 U.S. dollars), said Li.
and looking forward.
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.