China’s occupational health challenges

<span class="paragraphSection">China is a rapidly developing country that has experienced marked socio-economic changes during the last 30 years. However, this has led to a high prevalence of occupational disease (OD). Until 2013, there were only 603 Chinese institutions that could professionally diagnose OD [<a href="#CIT0001" class="reflinks">1</a>], which corresponds to one institution per 40000 at-risk workers. Furthermore, these institutions were concentrated in economically developed areas and large cities, with few institutions in the less developed central and western areas, which created an imbalance between supply and demand and increased workers’ challenges in accessing OD medical services. In addition, controlling these ODs remains challenging. The Law on Prevention and Control of Occupational Disease (LPCOD) was amended in 2011, which increased the convenience of diagnosing and treating ODs and served as an important remedial measure to protect against an OD epidemic. The applicable LPCOD legislation addresses occupational health (OH) services and OD compensation enforcement based on the OH regulations and provides a legal basis to prevent ODs.</span>

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