BEIJING – China now has over 900 rehabilitation stations for pneumoconiosis patients across the country, ensuring full coverage in towns and communities where these patients are most concentrated, according to a health official.
Affiliated with existing township health centers and community health service centers, these stations have offered accessible, free services to over a million pneumoconiosis patients, integrating traditional Chinese medicine, physical exercise, psychological counseling and nutritional support, said Li Jun, an official with the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press briefing on Monday.
At present, pneumoconiosis remains incurable, but through standardized treatment and rehabilitation, it is possible to slow down disease progression and improve patients’ quality of life, Li said.
Regarding the classification and catalog of occupational diseases, Li noted that in recent years, health issues stemming from poor working practices and work-related stress – both physiological and psychological – have become more prominent, prompting revisions to the catalog.
Pneumoconiosis
Pneumoconiosis, also known as occupational pulmonary fibrosis, is a lung disease caused by inhaling dusts and fibers at work. The dust particles cause inflammation and scarring in the lungs, making it difficult to breathe. The disease usually develops over years of exposure and can continue to progress even after exposure ends. There’s no cure, but treatments like oxygen therapy and pulmonary rehabilitation can help improve quality of life.
Yip,that’s what it is alright, and it also has a tendency to come accompanied by one or more other real nasty conditions, which here in the UK anyway, are not deemed to be as of occupational origin!
