Strengthen Occupational Disease Prevention and Control of Rural Migrant Workers in China

On the 28th, in the street of Changchun City, Jilin Province, in the northeastern part of China, Xing Jun, deputy director of the Jilin Provincial Occupational Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center, together with his colleagues, handed over the manuals with common occupational disease prevention knowledge to passers-by.

Since 2002, Chinese officials have used the last week of April every year as an advocacy for the prevention and control of occupational diseases in China, allowing Chinese workers to learn more about occupational disease prevention and control. The theme of this year's publicity week is: Prevention of Occupational Diseases and Health Careers.

In fact, China has always been very concerned about the health of workers. In 1957, China first issued the "Regulations on Trial Implementation of the "Scope of Occupational Diseases and Treatment of Patients with Occupational Diseases," and identified 14 occupational diseases. In 1987, the Chinese government adjusted it again, and the number of occupational diseases increased to 9 categories and 99 species.

With the rapid development of China's economy, new technologies, new materials, and new technologies are widely used. New occupations, types of work, and labor methods continue to emerge. The occupational hazards that workers encounter in their professional activities are more diverse and complex. On May 1, 2002, the amended "People's Republic of China Occupational Disease Prevention Law" was formally implemented.

At the end of 2013, the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China, the Department of Human Resources and Social Security and other departments released the newly revised “Classification and Catalogue of Occupational Diseases,” and added 18 new occupational diseases to the list. Today, the Occupational Disease Classification and Catalogue covers a total of 10 categories and a total of 132 occupational diseases. The expansion of the scope of occupational diseases shows that the Chinese government has paid increasing attention to the rights and interests of employees.

But even so, the current situation of occupational disease prevention in China is still not optimistic. China currently has a large number of workers and workers, some of whom are directly exposed to the hazards of dust and toxic substances. Due to the lack of prevention and protection awareness, some workers suffered occupational diseases such as pneumoconiosis, and health was threatened.

In Jilin Province alone, the number of people exposed to poisonous and harmful occupations in the whole province is about 2.19 million. There are about 300 newly diagnosed occupational diseases in the province each year, and 7 of them are all suffering from pneumoconiosis.

Although this part of the diagnosed patients received treatment, according to expert analysis, there are more potential occupational diseases patients do not realize their own health, which may be the future of occupational disease prevention "a piece of land to be cultivated."

According to data released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China, the total number of migrant workers in China in 2013 was about 269 million people. In the migrant workers group, a considerable number of people do not participate in work-related medical insurance. Even if they know that they are sick, they are unwilling to treat because they cannot afford treatment costs.

NPC deputy and director of Jiangsu Wuxi Lung Transplantation Center Chen Jingyu also said at the two national conferences held last month that a large number of peasant workers suffering from pneumoconiosis were returning to poverty due to illness, high debt, and children dropping out of school. She called on the Chinese government to establish a special fund for pneumoconiosis in the work injury insurance fund to effectively solve the problem of medical assistance for migrant workers.

Xing Jun said that from this year onwards, the migrant workers group will become the focus group for prevention and cure of occupational diseases. He pointed out that these propaganda may not immediately change the migrant workers' understanding of occupational diseases, but at least let them know the concept of occupational diseases. "The future changes will start from such a bit of accumulation." Xing Jun said.

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