Lessons From Tuberculosis Control for COVID-19: Screening Should Be Universal.

Since World War II, a tradition of fighting infectious diseases had proven its worth in stopping chains of contamination and controlling diseases. Contradicting this tradition, the choices made in France regarding the COVID-19 pandemic failed to prevent deaths and protect the most exposed populations. Workers, in particular, are the victims of this failure. Based on the experience of tuberculosis control, this article shows that another strategy is not only possible, but crucial to overcome such epidemic.

Do Women and Men Have the Same Patterns of Multiple Occupational Carcinogenic Exposures? Results from a Cohort of Cancer Patients.

Complex exposure situations are frequent at the workplace, but few studies have characterized multiple occupational carcinogenic exposures (MOCE) and their gendered differences across jobs' characteristics. We assessed MOCE separately in male and female jobs and identified patterns of MOCE at job level. Participants (834 men and 183 women) were cancer patients recruited between March 2002 and December 2010 in the ongoing SCOP93 cohort study, Seine-Saint-Denis department, France. Job histories were collected through personal interviews, and carcinogenic exposures were assessed by a multidisciplinary expert committee using a list of 53 carcinogens. Proportion of MOCE (i.e. ≥2 carcinogens) was assessed for male and female jobs separately. Principal component analysis combined with hierarchical ascendant classification was used to identify patterns of MOCE. Among the 5202 male jobs and 885 female jobs, respectively 42 and 9% were multi-exposed. Blue-collar workers and jobs in the construction and industry sectors had the highest rates of MOCE, contrasting with jobs held in recent periods (≥1997) and by patients aged ≥45 years at job start. A gradient of MOCE was also observed according to occupational segregation for both men and women. Eight patterns of MOCE were identified among male jobs: widespread carcinogens, mixed silica dust, heavy metals/combustion products, organic compounds/radiation, metal working, solvents/heavy metals, wood dust/formaldehyde/pesticides, and fuel exhausts. Three patterns of MOCE were found among female jobs: biological/organic compounds, industrial working, and fuel exhausts. Some patterns of MOCE were job-specific, whereas other patterns were found across different occupations. These results suggest that patterns of MOCE partly differ between men and women. They stress the importance of gendering multiple exposure assessment studies and point out the inadequacy of occupational disease compensation systems based on a single factor and non-gendered approach of carcinogenesis, ignoring differences between men and women in complex occupational exposure situations.

FIOH-sponsored newsletter misrepresents asbestos hazards in Zimbabwe.

The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) has received support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Office (ILO) to publish the African Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety. The African Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety should not be a medium for industry propaganda, or the source of misinformation among the workers of Africa. Instead, FIOH should provide the same level of scientific information in Africa that it does in Finland and other developed countries.

[Work and social inequalities in health: the case of professional cancers]. / Travail et inégalités sociales de santé: le cas des cancers professionnels.

Work plays a major role in the production of social inequalities in health in two ways. It determines the place that each one is occupying in the production and in the society, which is influencing the social inequalities as regards living conditions, income, housing, social security and access to the healthcare. In addition, the conditions and the organization of work have direct effects on worker's health according to the types of social division of work and of occupational hazards. The social differentiation of the occupational exposure to carcinogenic substances is under the influence of such a social division of work which plays also a role in the production of the inequalities in cancer. Known since decades, such inequalities are generally considered as related to the individual behaviours. The role of work in the social construction of these inequalities is little questioned, even if epidemiological data exist concerning occupational cancer. These are not visible in public area and little recognised in occupational disease. French and European regulations are taking in account the prevention of occupational cancer, but the effective practices are still poorly developed. This article attempts to show what is the state of the problem in terms of knowledge, compensation and prevention of these cancers which are related to work and for a large part invisible. This invisibility is contributing to the social growth of social inequalities in cancer.

Justice for asbestos victims and the politics of compensation: the French experience.

This paper presents the history of asbestos mining and manufacture in France, the strategies of the multinational asbestos firms to become major international participants, the failures of occupational health and safety that allowed an epidemic of asbestos-related diseases to occur, and the important social movement of the victims of asbestos exposure. The asbestos industry thrived in France until the health effects of asbestos exposure were made public. At that time, the industry had already moved its mining and manufacture to developing countries, where they were able to take advantage of limited regulation and enforcement of occupational and environmental laws. The author analyzes the compensation systems that were approached with varying degrees of success by the victims of asbestos exposure. France banned all manufacture and use of asbestos in 1997, and in the years that have followed, it has enjoyed many successes in achieving compensation for asbestos victims.

The International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) and its influence on international organizations.

The ICOH has played a key role in the development of some scientific documents and policy recommendations, but it has not always been scientifically objective, particularly in regard to asbestos and other fibers and some chemicals and pesticides. Many ICOH members are employees of corporations or consultants to industry, serving multinational corporate interests to influence public health policy in the guise of a professional scientific organization. ICOH members' conflicts of interest with the public health dominate the organization and damage the standing of the ICOH. Official recognition of the ICOH compromises the credibility of the WHO and the ILO. It is inappropriate for the ICOH to continue to receive WHO and ILO recognition unless the ICOH is recognized as an industry organization.

Pesquisas de gênero: entre o público e o privado / Research genres: between public and private

Esta coletânea tem como tônica uma abordagem sociológica da saúde em suas múltiplas articulações: com a reprodução, com a família, com o trabalho, tendo como substrato a questão das relações sociais de sexo/gênero na sociedade. Tais problemáticas colocam em pauta os domínios opostos e entrelaçados da relação entre o indivíduo e sociedade - o espaço público e o espaço privado, que constituem o elo de articulação da saúde reprodutiva com as políticas de saúde; das doenças recorrentes do trabalho com a restruturação produtiva; do trabalho e das diferentes formas de organização familiar com as políticas sociais

Hábitos e práticas alimentares em três localidades da cidade de São Paulo / Eating habits and practices in three localities within the city of São Paulo (Brazil)

Este trabalho teve como objetivo principal o estudo do consumo alimentar em três localidades na cidade de São Paulo. Um inquérito alimentar foi realizado, nos meses de julho e agosto de 1993, junto a trinta e duas mulheres, apresentando características socioeconômicas distintas: 11 na Favela de São Remo (baixa renda), 11 na Vila Madalena (renda média) e 10 no Parque Continental (renda alta). Utilizou-se o método recordatário de 24 horas e o de frequência alimentar, além de questões abertas sobre hábitos, práticas e estratégias alimentares. observou-se semelhanças entre os grupos estudados, como por exemplo, o aumento do consumo de alimentos industrializados, o supermercado como principal local de compra de alimentos, a importância dada à carne, às frutas e aos legumes, a preferência por alimentos frescos em relação aos industrializados, as substituições ligadas à evolução dos preços dos alimentos e/ou preocupações com a saúde. Por outro lado, prevaleceu a diferenciação do consumo em função das condições socioeconômicas das famílias, verificada pela maior diversificação alimentar com a elevação da renda, com diferenças significativas (p < 0,05) entre o grupo de menor renda e os demais, principalmente, quanto ao consumo de derivados do leite e de legumes em conserva

Estudo do consumo alimentar: em busca de uma abordagem multidisciplinar / Study of food consumption: in search of a multidisciplinary approach

Mudanças nos hábitos alimentares têm sido observadas nas últimas décadas, em vários países, revelando a complexidade dos modelos de consumo e de seus fatores determinantes. Assim, a adoçäo de uma abordagem multidisciplinar e comparativa, onde os vários aspectos da alimentaçäo (econômicos, sociais culturais e nutricionais) possam ser avaliados, faz-se ainda mais necessária, de modo a permitir a elucidaçäo dos mecanismos responsáveis por essas mudanças e suas conseqüências, nos diferentes contextos socioeconômicos. Foram analisadas as contribuiçöes de várias áreas de conhecimento ao estudo da situaçäo alimentar e discutidos os enfoques dados a esse tema no contexto dos países do Norte e do Sul e, mais especificamente, para o caso brasileiro. Propöe-se a análise do consumo alimentar a partir da noçäo de "sistemas alimentares", numa perspectiva histórica. Trata-se de considerar os diferentes agentes sociais (produtores, distribuidores, consumidores e o Estado), suas lógicas, suas estratégias e as relaçöes que se estabelecem entre eles, ao longo do tempo, visando assim à compreensäo do processo através do qual os hábitos alimentares se conströem e evoluem.