OBJECTIVES

Workers are continuously exposed to occupational hazards and risks. By analyzing recent data on the status of occupational safety and health (OSH) in the Philippines, this study aimed to determine the common occupational injuries and diseases among Filipino workers, and preventive and control measures/activities and occupational safety and health policies and programs implemented across the country.

A review of data on Philippine OSH from the Integrated Survey of Labor and Employment (ISLE) by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) covering data from 2015/2016, 2017/2018, and 2019/2020 was done. The number of occupational injury cases, types of injuries, and types of diseases were assessed as well as the implementation of OSH policies and programs. Descriptive statistics, simple T-test, and Pareto analysis were used to analyze the collated data sets.

The number of occupational injury and diseases in the Philippines across industries are decreasing. Superficial injuries and open wounds (56.47%), and Work-related Musculoskeletal Diseases (WMSDs) (61.82%) top the list as the most common injury and disease across industries, respectively. In 2018, OSH programs and preventive and control measures underwent reforms due to the implementation of the Republic Act (RA) 11058. For OSH programs, there is an increase in implementation between 2015 and 2019.

Occupational injury and occupational diseases in the Philippines across industries are declining. In terms of OSH measures and programs, there has been a significant change over the years, especially after the introduction of RA 11058 in 2018. A rise in the implementation of measures and policies was noted. However, there are still gaps that need to be addressed.

Objectives Workers are continuously exposed to occupational hazards and risks. By analyzing recent data on the status of occupational safety and health (OSH) in the Philippines, this study aimed to determine the common occupational injuries and diseases among Filipino workers, and preventive and control measures/activities and occupational safety and health policies and programs implemented across the country.
occupational medicine ; occupational health ; public health ; preventive medicine

It has become a common consensus that resource conservation and intensive recycling for improving resource utilization efficiency is an important way to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality(dual carbon). Traditonal Chinese medicine(TCM)resources as national strategic resources are the material basis and fundamental guarantee for the development of TCM industry and health services. However, the rapid growth of China's TCM industry and the continuous expansion and extension of the industrial chain have exposed the low efficiency of TCM resources. Resource waste and environmental pollution caused by the treatment and discharge of TCM waste have emerged as major problems faced by the development of the industry, which has aroused wide concern. Considering the dual carbon goals, this paper expounds the role and potential of TCM resource recycling and circular economy industry development. Taking the typical model of TCM resource recycling as the case of circular economy industry in reducing carbon source and increasing carbon sink, this paper puts forward the suggestions for the TCM circular economy industry serving the double carbon goals. The suggestions mainly include strengthening the policy and strategic leading role of the double carbon goals, building an objective evaluation system of low-carbon emission reduction in the whole industrial chain of TCM resources, building an industrial demonstration park for the recycling of TCM resources, and promoting the establishment of a circular economy system of the whole industrial chain of TCM resources. These measures are expected to guide the green transformation of TCM resource industry from linear economic model to circular economy model, provide support for improving the utilization efficiency and sustainable development of TCM resources, and facilitate the low-carbon and efficient development of TCM resource industry and the achievement of the double carbon goals.
Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Equipment Reuse ; Goals ; Environmental Pollution ; Economic Development ; Carbon ; China

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in both genders worldwide. Gender differences in clinical presentation and treatment have been reported. Objective: This study aims to describe and compare the cardiovascular risk factors and management strategies for primary prevention among Filipinos. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was done on 2,082 patients at the Preventive Cardiology Clinic of a tertiary referral center in Quezon City, Philippines from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2017. Results: Seventy-two percent of the patients were females with a higher mean age compared to males (57.67 + 10.50 vs 55.66 + 11.82, p 0.002). There were more women who were unemployed (75.2 vs 45.9, p<0.001). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of hypertension (68.6% vs 67.9%, p=0.542) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (19.8% vs 21.5%, p=0.437) in both genders. Beta blockers (24.1%), calcium channel blockers (22.9%) and angiotensin receptor blockers (22.1%) were the most commonly prescribed anti-hypertensive drugs. Biguanides were the most commonly prescribed glucose-lowering drug (11.3%). Compared to men, more women had dyslipidemia (51.8% vs 38.6%, p<0.001). Statins were more commonly prescribed in women (22.4 vs 18.1%, p=0.033). Conclusion There were significantly more women seen in our Preventive Cardiology clinic. Smoking and alcoholic drinking were higher in males. BMI, total cholesterol and HDL were significantly higher in females than in males.
Sex Characteristics ; Heart Disease Risk Factors ; Primary Prevention ; Preventive Medicine

Technical Specifications for Occupational Health Surveillance (GBZ 188-2014) is an important basis for judging suspected occupational diseases and occupational contraindications. There are crossing over or overlap between occupational contraindications and diagnostic criteria of poisoning damage. Occupational contraindications have different meanings with the degree and range of common diseases or symptoms and the frequency of physical examination during employment conflicts with the current standard. Based on the practice of occupational health examination in a large population, the present study analyzed relevant articles and put forward some suggestions for revision, in combination with clinical medicine, occupational health standards, and diagnostic standards of occupational diseases. The modification could provide a reference for the revision of Technical Specifications for Occupational Health Surveillance and the practice of occupational health examination.
Humans ; Occupational Health ; Occupational Diseases ; Occupational Health Services ; Workplace ; Reference Standards ; Occupational Medicine

Chinese medicinal material is the foundation of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) industry. Its quality is not only closely related to the health of residents but also the key to the development of the TCM industry. Pesticide residues, heavy metals and mycotoxins are the major pollutants of Chinese medicinal materials. In recent years, quite a number of rapid detection methods for pollutants have been constructed. Among them, surface-enhanced Raman scattering(SERS), which has been widely used in food chemistry, environmental analysis, and other fields because of its speediness and non-destructiveness, shows its great potential in the pollutant detection in Chinese medicinal material. This paper firstly reviews the application of SERS for the detection of common pollutants in Chinese medicinal material. We then discussed the characteristics and advantages of SERS technique for pesticide detection, including the principle, SERS substrate design, specific recognition, etc. Finally, simultaneous detection of multiple pesticide residues in Chinese medicinal material was explored.
China ; Environmental Pollutants ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Pesticide Residues/analysis* ; Spectrum Analysis, Raman

In recent years, the quality and safety problems have been limiting the internationalization of Chinese medicine. The pollutants in Chinese medicine, particularly the exogenous harmful pollutants mainly including mycotoxins, pesticide residues, heavy metals, harmful elements, and sulfur dioxide, are of high risks for people. Therefore, the World Health Organization(WHO) and relevant national organizations have clearly defined the maximum residue limits(MRLs) of such pollutants. Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2020 edition, volume Ⅳ) also demonstrates the detection methods, MRLs and preliminary risk assessment methods for four typical exogenous harmful pollutants in Chinese medicine. Therefore, continuous optimization of the health risk assessment system can further help further raise the quality and safety of Chinese medicine. This paper reviews the research on the health risk assessment of four typical exogenous harmful pollutants in Chinese medicine and discusses the problems of and challenges for the assessment system, which is expected to lay a scientific basis for the establishment of the risk warning mode and response measures suitable for specific types of Chinese medicine.
Drug Contamination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/analysis* ; Environmental Pollutants/analysis* ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Pesticide Residues/analysis* ; Risk Assessment

Physicians play a central role in the fields of medical service, research, and industry, so it is imperative to produce well-qualified doctors. Medicine is composed of science and arts, both necessary for its practice, and thus, the education outcomes in basic medical education in a medical school include basic biomedical sciences, social sciences and clinical sciences. Adequate science competencies create a deeper and better understanding of scientific knowledge, concepts, and methods fundamental to clinical science, and contribute to the scientific, technological, and clinical developments. The science competencies are primarily obtained by studying basic medicine in basic medical education, which has been criticized for failing to do so sufficiently in Korea. The failure is attributed to insufficient education time, teachers, and budgets, but the most critical factor is the lack of awareness regarding the importance of the science competencies of the physicians. Such ignorance also affects the Korean Medical Licensing Examination (KMLE). The KMLE tests competency in clinical sciences, preventive medicine, and medical laws, but not in basic biomedical sciences, which might result in insufficient science competency of the physicians and a decrease in the overall quality of the medical health service. Tests must be urgently introduced in KMLE on the competencies of basic biomedical sciences to improve the science competency of the physicians. The representative organizations of the medical society should take vigorous actions for the introduction of the basic medicine examination in KMLE.
Budgets ; Education ; Education, Medical ; Fibrinogen ; Health Services ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; Licensure ; Preventive Medicine ; Schools, Medical ; Social Sciences ; Societies, Medical

OBJECTIVE: To understand the current cognition of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) occupational protection among the managers of multi-level stomatology medical institutions in efforts to provide a reference for formulating technical standards for occupational protection. METHODS: Eighteen managers of oral medical institutions were individually interviewed in-depth using asemi-structured questionnaire on issues related to AIDS occupational protection using the phenomenological research method. Nvivo 12.0 software was used to code and analyze the interview data, and relevant themes were extracted. RESULTS: Three themes were extracted from the data. Occupational protection measures for AIDS in dental medical institutions mainly based on the aspects of standardized operation, standardized prevention, and post-exposure treatment. However, the implementation of these protective measures was often inadequate. Occupational protection training for AIDS was carried out regularly at dental medical institutions, but the training effect was not generally tracked. Several limitations in AIDS occupational protection management; these limitations included the lack of a specific occupational protection system, the difficulty of AIDS screening for outpatients, and the difficulty of AIDS occupational protection supervision. CONCLUSIONS Oral medical institutions should strengthen their occupational protection training and supervision approaches and formulate unified occupational protection standards to reduce occupational exposure and improve hospital management quality and efficiency.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; Cognition ; Humans ; Occupational Exposure ; Oral Medicine ; Surveys and Questionnaires

With the growing attention on ecological environment problems and gradual realization of ecological environment value, environmental damage has jumped from administrative penalty to a new stage, judicial penalty, and environmental damage appraisal has provided a legal weapon to safeguard ecological security. As a new forensic category of China with high comprehensiveness and technical difficulty, environmental damage appraisal involves diversified and complex subjects, fields and appraisal objects, and is still in an early stage in terms of theory and practice. This study aims to provide an important reference for the improvement of the Chinese environmental damage appraisal system of environmental damage by summarizing advanced international experience in areas such as laws and regulations, working mechanism and technical system, and putting forward targeted countermeasures and suggestions based on the problems existing in the development and practice of environmental damage appraisal in China.
China ; Environment ; Environmental Pollution/analysis* ; Forensic Medicine ; Humans