Agricultural workers are among the most vulnerable groups facing occupational health risks,yet their protection remains insufficient globally.Despite employing nearly one-third of the global workforce,agriculture is one of the most hazardous sectors,with risks intensified by climate change and limited regulatory coverage.This commentary examines emerging challenges,research gaps,and policy directions,with a focus on international frameworks and China's recent experiences.While initiatives like Healthy China 2030 and pilot projects using international tools have advanced rural occupational health,major barriers persist,especially for precarious and informal agricultural workers.Strengthening national actions and international coordination is urgently needed.Reviving the Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health would help bridge the gap between global commitments and local implementation.Protecting agricultural workers is essential for promoting human rights,advancing public health resilience,and achieving sustainable development goals related to health,labor,and food security.

Agricultural workers are among the most vulnerable groups facing occupational health risks,yet their protection remains insufficient globally.Despite employing nearly one-third of the global workforce,agriculture is one of the most hazardous sectors,with risks intensified by climate change and limited regulatory coverage.This commentary examines emerging challenges,research gaps,and policy directions,with a focus on international frameworks and China's recent experiences.While initiatives like Healthy China 2030 and pilot projects using international tools have advanced rural occupational health,major barriers persist,especially for precarious and informal agricultural workers.Strengthening national actions and international coordination is urgently needed.Reviving the Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health would help bridge the gap between global commitments and local implementation.Protecting agricultural workers is essential for promoting human rights,advancing public health resilience,and achieving sustainable development goals related to health,labor,and food security.

The public health workforce is a key component of public health system.To articulate the scope of public health workforce,we reviewed the relevant World Health Organization(WHO)guidance and peer-reviewed journal articles on this subject.Specifically,we assessed and compared the relevant publications produced by WHO Headquarters and Regional Offices along with other literature on this issue.Our focus was on the"occupation,workplace setting,and employer of public health workforce".It is noteworthy that WHO has adopted a conceptual framework with an inclusive scope of the public health workforce,while setting out a 5-year vision to strengthen capacity across all WHO Member States for a multidisciplinary workforce to deliver the essential public health functions,including emergency preparedness and response.The importance of public health workforce in global and national responses to the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic is recognized.We also observed that there were diverse understandings of the scope of public health workforce worldwide,including macro-,meso-and micro-level perspectives.In the post-COVID-19 era,we suggest that policy-makers and practitioners at the national,regional and global level adopt a coordinated approach to expand and strengthen the national workforce as guided by the WHO towards the health-related targets of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals such as health security and Universal Health Coverage.

The public health workforce is a key component of public health system.To articulate the scope of public health workforce,we reviewed the relevant World Health Organization(WHO)guidance and peer-reviewed journal articles on this subject.Specifically,we assessed and compared the relevant publications produced by WHO Headquarters and Regional Offices along with other literature on this issue.Our focus was on the"occupation,workplace setting,and employer of public health workforce".It is noteworthy that WHO has adopted a conceptual framework with an inclusive scope of the public health workforce,while setting out a 5-year vision to strengthen capacity across all WHO Member States for a multidisciplinary workforce to deliver the essential public health functions,including emergency preparedness and response.The importance of public health workforce in global and national responses to the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic is recognized.We also observed that there were diverse understandings of the scope of public health workforce worldwide,including macro-,meso-and micro-level perspectives.In the post-COVID-19 era,we suggest that policy-makers and practitioners at the national,regional and global level adopt a coordinated approach to expand and strengthen the national workforce as guided by the WHO towards the health-related targets of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals such as health security and Universal Health Coverage.

Health workers (HW) are on the frontline fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic,they are exposed to multiple occupational hazards.This article analyzed the comprehensive measures of protecting HWs during the COVID-19 response in China.Occupational health protection of HWs was one of the key strategies of the public health measures adopted against the COVID-19 outbreak from the earliest stage in China.This prioritization of HWs health protection was based on the technical and policy guidance of WHO and Intemational Labor Organization as well as the experiences from previous outbreaks in China.The comprehensive measures in China can be sum-marized as '6P-approach':public health emergency response,prompt learning from lessons,proactive measures of occupational health,precaution strategies against occupational hazards,personal protective equipment and medical devices supply,and professional networking.Through this 6P-approach,China was able to minimize the incidence of COVID-19 infection among HWs,while successfully containing the outbreak during the first quarter of 2020.Although the COVID-19 vaccines have been rolled out,however,the COVID-19 pandemic is still under rapidly evolving situation.Experiences from China may provide other countries with an example of prioritiz-ing and incorporating occupational health protection of HWs in their public health measures responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: This study was perfomed to estimate the incidence of hip fractures of people older than 50 years in South Korea. METHODS: Information of patients over 50 years of age who had sustained a hip fracture were obtained from the records of eight hospitals in Jeju Island between 2002 and 2006 to calculate the incidence of hip fractures in this age group. RESULTS: There were 820 hip fractures during the study period. The mean age of the patients at the time of fracture was 77.8 years (71.3 years in 181 men, 79.7 years in 639 women). The crude incidence was 128/100,000 (66.1/100,000 in men, 174.4/100,000 in women). The age-specific incidence according to the 10-year age groups increased from 19.3/100,000 for those 50 to 59 years of age to 1,095.4/100,000 for those over 90 years of age (18.9/100,000-960.4/100,000 in men and 19.7/100,000-1112.1/100,000 in women). The standardized incidence of hip fracture to the Caucasian population in the United States in 1990 was 100/100,000 for men and 207/100,000 for women. CONCLUSIONS: Hip fractures will become an important socioeconomic problem in South Korea due to the rapid aging of the population.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Hip Fractures/*epidemiology ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology

OBJECTIVES: The increased prevalence of asthma over the last 30 years has been reported from many different countries, including Korea. The increased prevalence may be due to increased exposure to indoor air pollutants. METHODS: In this study, the relationship between residential environments and airway hyper-responsiveness has been examined among 280 family members. The bronchial hyper-responsiveness was expressed as the log-transformed slope of FEV decrease over the log-transformed dose of methacholine concentration(BRindex). Simple regression analysis was done for the effect of sex, age, atopic status, and residential environments including active and passive smoking exposures on airway responsiveness. Based on simple regression results, multiple rwegression analysis was performed for total group and also according to sex. RESULTS: The mean of BRindex of residents living in gas boiler heating houses was higher than that of central heating system (p=0.014). Smoking status was a significant determinant of bronchial hyper-responsiveness in both genders; male(p=0.017), female (p%.022). In the male group the mean of BRindex of current smokers was significantly higher than those of ex-smokers and non-smokers, and the mean of BRindex of passive smokers was higher than that of non-smokers, but statistical significance was border-line(p=0.069). In female group, the mean of BRindex of kerosene stove users was higher than that of non-users(p=0.057). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that indoor air pollutants including type of heating, passive smoking and kerosene stove use can contribute to the increase in asthma prevalence in Korea.
Air Pollutants ; Air Pollution, Indoor ; Asthma ; Female ; Heating ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Kerosene ; Korea ; Male ; Methacholine Chloride ; Prevalence ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Tobacco Smoke Pollution

OBJECTIVES: To confirm the HAVS in workers exposed to hand-arm vibration with using the objective diagnostic methods METHODS: Several tests were used to help substantiate a clinical diagnosis of HAVS. Some other diseases were excluded by a medical interview, hematologic assessment, urinalysis, X-rays. The hand-arm vibration acceleration level of the grinder was evaluated for considering HAVS. Peripheral vascular changes were examined by a cold provocation test. An electromyography was implemented to ascertain the peripheral neural changes. RESULTS: 8 workers with symptoms in hands & fingers, exposed to hand-arm vibration were examined. Some other diseases(primary Raynauds disease, secondary Raynauds disease in not occupational origin) were excluded by a medical interview, hematologic assessment, urinalysis, X-rays. The hand-arm vibration acceleration level of the grinder was 7. 9 m/sec2. The recovery time of a skin temperature followed finger cooling was significantly prolonged in 6 workers with HAVS. The nerve conduction velocity was reduced in 6 workers with HAVS. CONCLUSIONS: So we report 6 cases of HAVS in grinding workers exposed to hand-arm vibration diagnosed objectively by an exclusion of some other disease, handarm vibration acceleration level, cold provocation test, electromyography.
Acceleration ; Diagnosis ; Electromyography ; Fingers ; Hand* ; Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome* ; Neural Conduction ; Raynaud Disease ; Skin Temperature ; Urinalysis ; Vibration*

No abstract available.
Endocrine Disruptors* ; Humans*

No abstract available.
Aging* ; Uric Acid*