Prevention and treatment of pneumoconiosis in China

Silicosis is one of the most serious occupational diseases which affect many workers' health in China. Under the guidance of policies from the Chinese Government, the industries, health care institutions, scientists and workers were organized and have made great efforts in prevention and treatment of silicosis as well as pneumoconiosis. Since the 1960s, the national health standards and chest X-ray diagnosis criteria for silicosis were established and have been revised recently. A nationwide epidemiological survey revealed that the cumulative pneumoconiosis cases were about 4,800,000 (1949-1992). The high prevalence rate has been the motivation to search for anti-silicotic drugs. Several kinds of anti-silicotic drugs were studied and found to be able to retard progression of silicosis and cause changes in X-ray picture. The mechanism of drug efficiency and the development of silicosis have attracted the interest of scientists in this fields and fruitful results have been obtained. For prevention of dust hazards, the systematic design for facilities of dust collection and the isolation of dust source appropriate to township industries have been worked out and used widely. Recently, under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Health, China, a pilot study on counter-measure for industrial hazards and health care service in township industries has been instituted.