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It's a hot, dusty and potentially life threatening job.
Employees at this stone cutting plant in Central Thailand
are among an estimated 200,000 workers in the country
at risk of developing pneumoconiosis,
an occupational lung disease caused by inhaling dangerous levels of silica containing dusts.
.
"The doctors come to the plant and I had a physical check up.
I did not pass the breathing test.
So they gave me medication... They said I had pneumoconiosis."
"It would not be an exaggeration to say
that millions are at risk around the world everywhere where dust is generated.
The problem is that many of them go undiagnosed, unreported, because of the lack of knowledge,
the lack of experience, and the lack of large-scale prevention programmes,
which demand resources and experience,
and this is what the International Labour Organization
is aiming at,
in helping develop specifically developing countries
to implement."
Doctors at the Central Chest Institute of Thailand
were among the first in a developing country
to undergo intensive ILO training in early diagnosis of pneumoconiosis
using the ILO Classification of Radiographs.
"The first training programme started since 1995
and at that time the ILO support,
everything about, the film, the expert to be the trainer,
and at that time we have approximately 30 physicians
to participate in this training course.
Now the Institute -- part of the Ministry of Public
Health -- runs its own courses five times a year
to increase the number of doctors with expertise in the disease.
Following the ILO trainings
The Ministry has also implemented widespread national health surveillance programs at employment
sites
where workers are at risk for pneumoconiosis such as silicosis and asbestosis.
"This includes dust measurement in the workplace, health examination to identify high-risk workers
to detect early diagnosis of cases.
For the diagnoses of cases, we go into the enterprise,
we interview the workers, with their working history,
and sings/symptoms and then all the workers go
to have health examination by medical doctor
and then we take chest X-ray."
Workers diagnosed with the disease also receive treatment and support.
"I think it's better. Now I can breathe more comfortably."
Pneumoconiosis used to be disabling or fatal.
But by working with the ILO, Thailand has reduced
the number of workers who suffer it,
and is providing a lead for other developing economies to follow.