GEO Brasil - UNEP

The state of health and the environment
the state of the environment in Brazil
specially in the South of the country, where they ranked
first They are increasing in large urban areas, where diseases
such as asthma and allergic bronchitis occur due to the
greater exposure to pollution derived from industrial
pollutants, vehicle combustion and the use of pesticides
Next in rank, circulatory diseases accounted for a 847%
national average of all hospitalisations, followed by digestive
diseases, 758%; mental problems, 721% (national average
of 721%, and a very low incidence of 084% in the North);
infectious parasitical diseases (national average of 716%,
registering higher incidences in the North and Northeast
which surpass digestive diseases and mental problems);
urogenital (national average of 615%); external injuries
(national average of 497%); neoplastic diseases (national
average of 281%, endocrinal and metabolic illnesses
(national average of 235%); and perinatal sickness (national
average of 178%) Regarding neoplastic diseases, it is worth
mentioning skin cancer, not melanoma, which tends to be
the most frequent kind (DATASUS, 2002)
The results of globalisation became more evident and
intense in the 1990s These results have been more
precarious work conditions, a decline in the number of formal
jobs and an increasing number of informal jobs Added to
that, changes in labour protection legislation in regard to
dangerous and unhealthy conditions favour a greater variety
and an increase in the number of risk situations at the
workplace These changes also make access to the necessary
means that enable the worker to support himself and his
family more difficult This scenario results in greater
vulnerability towards a large variety of illnesses for the
working population In fact, certain groups, black people
who occupy less qualified and more dangerous work
positions, for instance, are affected by this process and
also register a greater number of children and adolescents
in the job market (IBGE/PNAD, 1999)
Even though not all work related diseases are properly
notified, there has been an increase in the number of
registrations, approximately 35,000 cases registered in 1996
These figures, however, do not represent the complexity of
this problem for they do not include informal workers
Consequently, this limits the analysis to 188 million workers
situated in the Southeast (58%) and South (19%), according
to 1998 data (RIPSA, 1998) From 1990 to 1996, the percentage
of work related diseases rose 8% and their incidence rate in
1998 was 1624 for every 10,000 insured workers, 1852 of
which representing typical work accidents and 192, work
accidents on the way to or from work
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