[Social invisibility of occupational diseases in Brazil (1919-2019)]

In Brazil, and indeed worldwide, one encounters a discrepancy between estimates of the effects of exposure to occupational risks on health and official statistics on professional diseases. Despite the innovations in the official lists, mainly in the period from 1999 to 2007, the statistical underestimation has not changed. The documentary analysis provided elements to identify the production of scientific ignorance, the current legal order and the functioning of the medical-administrative entities that produce the social invisibility of occupational diseases. It was discussed how this invisibility is produced by different logical structures and normative horizons that underlie the diagnosis, communication, and registration of these diseases. The hypotheses were developed in line with the constructs of the sociology of science and public inaction.