China is facing a severe occupational illness situation and efforts on the prevention and control of occupational diseases have lagged far behind the country's fast-growing economy, said a senior Chinese health official here Tuesday.

"Occupational illness has become both a major public health and social problem in China," said Jiang Zuojun, vice minister of the Ministry of Health, at the ongoing 10th International Conference on Occupational Respiratory Diseases.

More than 200 million employees from more than 16 million Chinese enterprises are exposed to occupational health threats, according to statistics released by the ministry.

In 2003, China reported 10,467 occupational disease cases, 80 percent of which were pneumoconiosis cases and the rest acute and chronic poisonings.

The country has reported a total of 580,000 occupational pneumoconiosis cases, which are caused by long-term inhalation of dust, especially mineral or metallic dust, since the 1950s. More than 140,000 have died from it.

Taking into account the low health examination rate among miners, experts would estimate the real pneumoconiosis cases in China during that time at no less than one million.

Jiang blamed the grave situation on lagging implementation of the country's legal system on the prevention and control of occupational diseases and lack of investment by local governments, which have long stressed economic development but ignored regulation on health sectors.

Jukka Takala, an official with the International Labor Organization, said there emerge annually more than 36,000 new grave pneumoconiosis patients and about 166,000 contract respiratory cancers rendered by dust and chemical products.

Source: Xinhua