Employmentweb_low

labour Markets and welfare states: a country perspective
that workers' health problems differ substantially depending on
employment status. Health inequalities at the macrosocial level may
exist between urban and rural populations, and across geographic
areas, and also between job sectors (services, production, public
administration) and income levels. Discrimination on the basis of race,
skin colour, sex, nationality, religious beliefs or any other offence to
human dignity is forbidden and punishable by law (article 42 of the
Constitution of the republic). Cuban people generally consider their
Cuban identity as superseding any racial or ethnic identity, a cultural
pattern that prevents discrimination in the work place or in access to
health care or awareness. at the microsocial level, dangers and risks
are attached to certain professions and working conditions, either
environmental or organisational. moreover, psychosocial risk has
increased in the growing services sector. The repercussions of health
problems are a topic of research among experts in occupational health,
including repercussions for the worker's family. although no national
surveys have been conducted on job conditions and health in the
working population, studies in specific sectors and territories have
suggested that between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of interviewees,
and in some cases more, claim occupational stress (román, 2003;
2007; Hernández, 2003).
The sistema nacional de Vigilancia de las Enfermedades
profesionales (national occupational Diseases surveillance
system), in operation since 1998, tracks occupational disease
throughout the country. The following are some data related to
occupational illness and injury. In 2006, 307 cases of occupational
disease were diagnosed in Cuba, representing a rate of 15.9 per 105
workers. This rate is the lowest in the last five years; the highest was
19.4 per 105 workers in 2002. Between January and september of
2007, 245 cases of occupational disease were diagnosed: 101 cases
of chronic nodular laryngitis (Cnl); 66 poisonings with insecticides;
26 cases of hypoacusia; 10 cases each of pneumoconiosis; and 10
cases of brucellosis. according to statistics from the "ministerio de
salud pública" (ministry of public Health), between 1998 and 2003,
841 cases of Cnl were diagnosed, representing incidence rates
between 11.58 and 5.60 per 103 individuals exposed. The most
affected groups in terms of sex were women (92.0, with incidence
rates between 15.79 and 9.57 per 103) and, with respect to
occupation, primary teachers (81.68, rates between 26.8 and 11.9
per 103). Cnl persists as an occupational health problem, mainly in
primary and kindergarten/creche teachers, appearing at lower ages
and with shorter exposure times than among people making a living
using their voices (reyes garcía, 2006). In 2006, according to the
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