A lung disease common among workers in the mining and cement
industries is the nation's top occupational killer, according to
the latest government statistics.
Since the 1950s, a total of 677,000 people have been diagnosed
with occupational diseases, more than 90 percent of which were
pneumoconiosis cases, said Su Zhi, an official with the Ministry of
Health.
Excluding Shaanxi and Tibet, 11,000 new occupational disease
cases were reported last year, with pneumoconiosis accounting for
76 percent, Su said.
"The proportion of pneumoconiosis cases was 1.44 percentage
points higher than in 2005 and the latency period of the disease
was shorter," he said.
Miners and cement industry workers develop pneumoconiosis by
breathing in coal and cement dust. The disease may take several
decades to manifest itself, but it is deadly, said Li Tao, an
official with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and
Prevention.
According to Su, 23 percent of pneumoconiosis cases had latent
periods of less than 10 years.
He said the coal mining, non-ferrous metal miners and
construction industries were the three most dangerous, causing 41
percent, 13 percent and 6.5 percent of total work-related illnesses
last year.
He also noted that 621 pneumoconiosis cases reported last year
were found to involve workers under the age of 18.
The ministry vowed to strengthen supervision of coal mining, as
well as pharmacy and pesticide production this year, hoping to
bring millions of migrant workers exposed to the risk of
occupational disease into the health care network.
Apart from lung disease, coal mine accidents kill 17 workers
every day on average in China, a fatality rate much higher than in
India, for example.
(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2007)