30 January 2004 11:36
China sets up fund to sponsor treatment of pneumoconiosis
Author: China has set up a special fund to finance the treatment of pneumoconiosis, a pulmonary disease caused by
mine dust that claims 5,000 lives a year. The fund, approved and overseen by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, will sponsor
lung therapy for pneumoconiosis sufferers from China's coal mining industry at the sanitarium for mine workers in
Beidaihe, a seaside summer resort in the northern Hebei Province. The State Administration of Coal-Mine Safety, sponsor
of the sanitarium, has injected 3 million yuan (US$360,000) as a startup fund to finance the treatment, which will be
offered at half price to sick miners and free of charge to those from poverty-stricken areas. The lavage treatment has
proven effective in removing dust from the patient's lungs and restoring lung function. With this therapy, the
Beidaihe sanitarium has cured more than 2,200 pneumoconiosis sufferers in China and nearly 100 patients from Russia and
Vietnam. Pneumoconiosis patients suffer from acute pains in the chest, a bad cough and easily come down with a cold. The
worst cases normally die of respiratory failure. Statistics suggest the disease causes a direct economic loss of 8
billion yuan (US$964 million) a year in China, and 40 percent of the cases are reported in the coal mining industry.
China has drafted a series of laws and regulations on workplace safety, better environment and regular health checks to
protect workers from occupational diseases.
[Business Daily Update] |
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