Paradox of many examinations, few benefits in occupational disease assessment

More than 865,000 occupational health check-ups

Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Deputy Director of the Department of Employment (Ministry of Home Affairs) Chu Thi Hanh said that in 2025, the total number of cases of workers exposed to harmful factors being examined for occupational disease detection was 865,143 (an increase of about 51% compared to 2024), of which 51 new cases of occupational disease were diagnosed, accounting for about 0.00% of the total examination number.

There were 43 cases of occupational disease assessment in the past year, of which 11 cases had a body injury rate of 5-30% and 2 cases had a body injury rate of over 30%.

Due to changes in organization and organizational arrangement, there has been a decrease in the number of units participating in emulation movements on occupational safety and health. The number of initiatives to improve working conditions recorded in 2025 decreased compared to 2024...

Ms. Hanh said that the reason is that many businesses have not paid attention to and fully implemented regulations on occupational safety and health, and management is still formalistic. Workers lack training, safety skills and are still subjective. Some localities have not paid attention to and allocated resources for this work.

Protecting workers' health

MSc.BS Pham Xuan Thanh - Deputy Head of the Department of Community Health and Labor, Department of Disease Prevention (Ministry of Health) - assessed: Currently, the number of workers diagnosed with occupational diseases is quite large, but the number of cases assessed is still low. To overcome this obstacle, the Ministry of Health has issued Circular 60/2025 amending and supplementing Circular 15/2016. Accordingly, some conditions on the working environment have been adjusted in a direction that is more suitable for reality.

MSc. Dr. Pham Xuan Thanh gave an example, for some occupational diseases such as silicon lung dust, previously workers had to be exposed to dust concentrations exceeding the permitted standards for 4 consecutive years to be eligible for assessment. Therefore, although many cases were examined and diseases were detected, the number of people eligible for assessment was quite small.

In addition, Circular 60/2025 supplements clearer diagnostic criteria. The set of criteria includes three factors, just meeting two criteria can diagnose occupational diseases. In some cases, even if workers do not have clear clinical manifestations, if functional exploration detects lesions, it can still be identified as occupational diseases. This regulation helps improve the ability to detect diseases and better ensure the legitimate rights of workers" - Dr. Pham Xuan Thanh informed.

According to MSc. Dr. Pham Xuan Thanh, occupational diseases are diseases that arise due to harmful factors in the working environment affecting workers' health. These are often diseases with prolonged progression and very limited recovery ability. If workers are not treated and controlled well, the disease can progress severely and increase the risk of death. Therefore, occupational disease prevention is of particular importance.

Reality shows that occupational diseases currently mainly appear in heavy and hazardous industries, such as mining, mechanics, materials processing... To strengthen occupational disease prevention, the Ministry of Health is coordinating to implement many solutions, including promoting labor environment monitoring. According to the provisions of Decree 44 and Decree 140/2018, labor environment monitoring activities have been socialized, allowing qualified organizations to participate in implementation.

These organizations have the task of assessing the working environment, identifying hazardous factors and early warning of health risks for workers. Thanks to that, the number of businesses performing monitoring has increased, contributing to minimizing risks and limiting the occurrence of occupational diseases.

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