Status of the World Health Organization Regional Occupational Health and Safety Conference.

regional occupational health and safety meetings were jointly organized by the World Health Organization
(
WHO) Western Pacific Regional Office and the South-East Asia Office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 12 to 14 November 2007. The meeting was attended by more than 60 officials in charge of occupational health and safety in 23 government departments in the two regions, the Ministry of Health, Labour or Human Resources, the WHO's cooperation centres in the member states concerned, the International Labour Organization
(
ILO) and the International Confederation of Trade Unions. WHO headquarters in Geneva was attended by officials. Deputy Director Of the Health Supervision Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Su Zhi, was invited to attend the meeting.. The meeting covered three elements: first, to discuss the implementation of this year's 60th World Health Assembly resolution 26, the Global Action Plan for the
health
of Workers
(
2008-2017)
(
the "Global Plan of Action"), and to consider the Framework
for Action on Occupational Health in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions (
2006) developed by the first WHO Regional Occupational Health and Safety Conference in 2005 Progress in the implementation of the "Regional Framework for Action" (the "Regional Framework for Action")
2
008-
2008-
2
009, as well as recommendations for cooperation among member Countries in implementing the Global Plan of Action and the Regional Framework for Action, and on the development
of relevant
on
health related to asbestos and asbestos, and on
action to eliminate
diseases from asbestos in 2
2008-
2009

. Third, share the experience of countries in promoting basic occupational health services (BOHS) and propose concrete actions to further promote BOHS in the region.
. I. On the topic of the implementation of the Global Plan of Action and the Regional Framework for ActionDr. Ivanov, The Occupational Health And Environmental Intervention Sonnial Officer of the Department of Public Health and Environment, who is headquarters in Geneva, introduced the Meeting to the Global Plan of Action on Workers' Health in resolution
2
6. Dr. H. Ogawa, WHO Western Pacific Officer, South-East Asia Officer Dr. Saiyed Habibullah and ILO East Asia Office Occupational Health Safety Officer Dr. Kawakami reported on WHO and ILO's progress in promoting the implementation of the regional framework for action in the region. The meeting invited 12 countries, including China, and five WHO cooperation centres to report on the implementation of the regional framework for action by member states. On behalf of China, Deputy Director Su Zhi reported on the progress, challenges and responses of occupational health in recent years. The meeting was widely discussed and recommendations for occupational health and safety actions for the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions for 2008-2009 were made.. WHO career health officer Ivanov pointed out that the main thrust of the Global Action Plan is to coordinate the health and other non-health sectors to promote the protection of workers' health and to promote, politically,
occupational diseases
and work on the prevention and control of
disease sord
. The Action Plan is committed to implementing and evaluating the implementation of interventions related to the protection of workers' health in the workplace. In addition to occupational health and safety, many public health and disease prevention and control efforts are closely related to workers' health, and infectious diseases, chronic disease prevention and control, health promotion, sanitation and health reform and development should take into account the need to protect the health of workers.. The WHO extends the traditional concept of "Occupational Health" to the concept of "Worker's Health", which mainly considers "occupational health" to protect workers' rights and interests from a way of labour management, emphasizes the responsibility of labor contract management, employers (employers), emphasizes occupational hazards in the workplace and preventive control of work-related health problems, and emphasizes negotiations between workers and employers. The concept of "worker health" lies in realizing that the health of workers is directly related to the sustainable development of the national and global economy and is an important factor of productivity, taking into account that the factors affecting the health of workers are multi-faceted, both occupational hazards, social factors, individual behavior and access to health services. Therefore, the concept of "health of workers" emphasizes more comprehensive protection of workers' health from a public health approach, emphasizes that health protection measures should be targeted at all workers, not just workers exposed to toxic and harmful work, and the scope of work of health protection should be expanded from traditional workplace hazard control to the prevention and prevention of all health risk factors. Elimination, emphasis on the close integration of occupational health and public health work, the addition of health protection in public health and disease prevention and control plans and measures, the emphasis on the responsibility of everyone rather than just the employer's responsibility, and the common responsibility of member States to protect the health of workers, not just negotiations between employers and employees.. The 60th World Health Assembly called on Member States to take practical measures to implement the goals and requirements set out in the Global Plan of Action. It is necessary to formulate supporting national policies and action plans, comprehensively expand the coverage of basic interventions and basic health services, strengthen capacity-building in implementation plans, especially at the grass-roots level, and implement action plans for workers' health protection into relevant health policies and plans. At the same time, the national non-health policy should also consider the health protection of workers. The importance of cooperation among Member States in the protection of the health of workers was also stressed.. The Regional Framework for Action (2006-2010) was adopted at the first WHO
/
ILO Regional Occupational Health and Safety Conference in 2005. The occupational health and safety initiatives proposed in the framework focus on three areas: the environment, work and workers. In the environmental context, Member States should create a physical and socio-political environment that supports occupational health and safety, formulate evidence-based occupational health safety policies and action plans, strengthen the construction of occupational health and safety systems, ensure the implementation of relevant policies and action plans, and take measures to ensure the sustainable development of occupational health and safety. In the field of operation, it is necessary to monitor and manage occupational hazards effectively and promote operational safety. At the regional and national levels, capacity-building for occupational hazard evaluation, monitoring and management should be strengthened, research, exchange and dissemination in hazard assessment and management, safety operations, evidence-based interventions should be encouraged to reduce work-related hazards and appropriate technologies to be used to the local context. In the aspect of workers, efforts should be made to reduce the vulnerability of workers to adverse health effects and work-related hazards, to expand the coverage of basic occupational health services (BOHS), especially those who are highly harmful to the occupational groups, to strengthen the individual prevention and reduction of the vulnerability of workers to occupational hazards, and to strengthen the study of the key factors affecting the vulnerability of workers' health. The document also sets out specific objectives and assessment indicators.. It was felt that the two regions had achieved phased results in implementing the objectives and requirements of the framework for action over the past two years, and that some countries had made fruitful attempts in the areas of occupational health infrastructure development and policy environment improvement. However, from a region-wide perspective, there is still a long way to go before the framework for action's goal of "the right to health and safety of every worker in the region is guaranteed, the working environment meets health and safety requirements and enjoys good occupational health services, giving workers access to a socially and economically creative life". WHO and ILO will continue to support member countries in policy, project development, capacity-building, collaborative partnerships and monitoring research.. The meeting focused on the following themes: first, what are the aspects of occupational health and safety issues of common regional interest, second, the priority of regional occupational health and safety actions and which actions should be included in the near-term action plan, and third, which actions are the minimum requirements for occupational health and safety acceptable to all countries, taking into account the different stages of occupational health and safety in different countries, and fourth, which Action will help ensure that member States achieve the global action plan 2008-2017 and the 2006-2010 regional framework for action objectives; In a comprehensive discussion, it was agreed that efforts should continue to achieve the objectives set out in the Global Plan of Action and the framework for action, and to that end, the Conference made 12 specific recommendations for 2008-2009:(i) to promote and support member States' active ratification of the ILO-related occupational safety and health-related conventions, in particular the Framework Convention for the Promotion of Occupational Safety and Health, adopted by the International Labour Conference in 2006.. (ii) To promote the development, approval and implementation of the National Action Plan on Occupational Health and Safety by the Governments of member States.. (iii) Support member States in the development of the National Archives on Occupational Health and Security and provide technical assistance to countries in need of technical assistance in the development of national archives.. (iv) To formulate policies to promote the active involvement of all relevant parties in occupational health and safety.. (v) Promote and encourage the integration of occupational health and safety into organizational policies in the formal sector.. (vi) Establish inter-State cooperation mechanisms to guide countries that are still in the initial stageof the occupational health and safety system.. (vii) To coordinate occupational health and safety training in the Asia-Pacific region and to provide training resources and opportunities in the development of occupational health and safety manpower needs in member countries.. (viii) To establish a cooperative mechanism for regional occupational health safety research projects to help countries carry out the required occupational health safety research projects.. (9) Establish an occupational health safety monitoring mechanism to strengthen the health protection of workers in the informal sector.. (x) Discover, screen, publish and disseminate occupational health safety models and occupational health safety projects of promotional value found in Member States.. (11) Promote and promote basic occupational health services and integrate basic occupational health services into the occupational health service system.. (12) Discover, screen, publish and disseminate appropriate technical measures aimed at solving local occupational health safety problems, effectively protecting the health of workers and creating a good working environment.. Member States were requested to keep WHO and ILO informed of progress in implementing the regional framework for action. It also recommended that WHO Cooperation Centres and relevant agencies actively promote and disseminate occupational health and safety research results, training tools, typical experiences, actively provide technical support for occupational health and safety policy development, capacity-building and project design and evaluation, continue to develop and enhance exchanges between countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the WHO Cooperation Centre and relevant institutions in the region, and strengthen monitoring of progress in 12 recommendations for specific actions.
. Second, on the topic of the elimination of diseases caused by asbestos and its productsWHO and ILO officials respectively presented the global and international organizations on the elimination of asbestos and its products policy positions. Thailand presented the "Asian Asbestos Seminar" in Bangkok in 2006, supported by WHO
/
ILO and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Health of Thailand
/
Ministry of Labour. The issue of asbestos has been a hot topic in the international community. The medical and scientific community has fully proved that asbestos is a strong carcinogen, can lead to lung cancer, pleural mesothelioma, throat cancer and other malignant
tumor
, in addition to asbestos lung, pleural plaque, pleural thickening and chest fluid and other serious diseases. WHO and ILO have been committed to asbestos hazard prevention and control for many years, as early as 1986 ILO adopted the Asbestos Convention (ILO No. 162). After 2003, WHO and ILO further explicitly put forward proposals for the total elimination of asbestos and its products in the world. In 2003, the ILO
/
THE WHO Joint Committee on Occupational Health proposed "a dedicated effort to eliminate asbestos-related diseases on a global scale". In 2005, who adopted the Resolution on the Prevention and Control of
Cancer
, which was adopted by the 58th WHO World Health Assembly, that 54 per cent of occupational tumors were caused by exposure to asbestos, and that Member States should pay special attention to those avoidable exposuretos that lead to the harmful exposure of tumors, of which asbestos exposure was the first. The 2006 World Labour Conference adopted the Resolution on Asbestos, which considers that "the elimination of asbestos and its products and the effective management of existing uses of asbestos and its products are the most effective measures to prevent and eliminate the health hazards caused by asbestos to workers and the public". "There are many types of asbestos, which are classified as chrysotile and chrysotile. In particular, the WHO stresses that all types of asbestos have the same serious hazards, not just chrysotile asbestos. Therefore, the elimination of asbestos hazards must eliminate the production and use of all types of asbestos and its products. In order to effectively advance action by member States to eliminate asbestos, in 2006 the ILO
/
WHO jointly launched the Framework for the Development of national plans for the elimination of asbestos-related diseases, guiding member States in the development and implementation of national asbestos removal plans.. The meeting, through the General Assembly and the breakout session, considered that the elimination of asbestos-related diseases in the countries of the region was at different stages. However, the problem of asbestos hazards has attracted the attention of all countries. On the one hand, some countries are entering a period of high incidence of asbestos hazards, where the use of asbestos has been significantly reduced;