Health Care Of Coal Miners In Developing Countries

Public health approaches to the health care of coal miners is one of the main important problems in developing countries like the republic of India and China, which are two fundamental coal producer countries over the world. China conveyed about 3.6 billion tons of coal in 2012, 47% of the world’s total coal production and India produced 605Mt of coal in 2012, after this fact it became the third biggest coal producer in the world. Additionally the important fact is that, India’s electricity generation’s 68% is made by coal.

Coal mineworkers are people who work, spend the majority of their day tunneling and digging coal from the mines. This kind of life and working style can have serious negative impact on their health and may even lead to their death.

Nowadays, the number death toll of miners from China, India and other developing countries rather than developed countries, for example death toll of mineworkers in USA is raising. The main causes of death are accidents, disaster, there are a lot of killed miners with cancer caused by mining.

Some statistics show that this problem is not approached correctly by the health care department in said countries, and should be changed.

In accordance with research, Chinese miners are 350 times more likely to die at their workplace than their American or British colleagues. They are frequently harmed, injured, by having their arms broken, fingers crushed, hands split open by picks and shoulders broken by falling rocks. Others suffer from broken ribs, lung diseases and damaged internal organs.

Other researches show that in Indian Coal mines, as Jharkhand, they have miners working on various floors. These miners have to work and operate the mine for 24 hours, a factor that seriously impacts their health.

This issue is a major problem not only in developing countries, but in all countries and regions which can produce coal, like Germany, Ukraine, USA, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia, Indonesia. 1 But in the developing countries the issue is more serious, however, since their Public health department has some of the means to prevent at least part of the problems in the mines and ensure the miners’ safety, but they do not have as many means as developed countries like the USA, for example Queensland government created Coal Mine Workers' Health Scheme, which helps them to protect miner health perfectly, also in Utah, there special hospital for miners to provide their health care.

The basic Idea of this research is to examine what public health approaches are being taken in developing countries (focusing on China & India) and to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of said approaches to compare which of them has better results for the coal miners.

Findings

In this research, for analyzing public health approaches to health care of Chinese and Indian mineworkers, there have been used research studies, documents and articles made in India, China and moreover in the USA. According the fact that, coal mining over the globe is extremely managed industry because of numerous hazards, risks of people’s health, particularly miners, who are working there. Republic of India and China are the cases of both big producer, consumer and importer developing countries over the world. Ministry of mines is a component of Indian government, that with facilitate of public health system regulates, formulates laws, receives necessary choices to reduce the health hazards of mineworkes and make them safety. In India, the coal miners operating processes are overseen by the Mines Act, Mine Rules 1952–1955, furthermore there is Coal Mine Regulation, created in 1957.

NIMH is Institute of Miners’ Health in Nagpur, India, set up under Ministry of Mines, Government of Republic of India for promoting and doing prevention of occupational diseases among the individuals employed in mining. The health condition of those mineworkers, situation in their working places, specifically in coal mines are regulated and observed by this institute. This institute offers approach to ensure the health of miners, first of all, gives top-quality technical help services in evaluation, control of workplace risks in mines, supports health and prevent the degree of occupational illnesses among mineworkers and assists administration agencies, mining industry in agree with international standards.

The coal production has long been viewed as one of the most dangerous industries in China, which is world’s largest coal maker and consumer. SAWS is State Administration of Work Safety in China, which with help of Public Health system of china to observe the quality of miners’ health safety in their workplaces, additionally in china there is China coal information institute, that makes decision support for the state administration of coal mine safety. It’s responsibilities are to deliver information on coal mine safety and analyzing all information on coal mine accidents and occupational hazards of miners, arrange mine emergency rescue effects.

Despite the approaches that Governments of these countries with their departments and institutes of coal in China and India did, the outcomes unfortunately aren’t great like in developing countries as in USA, Utah, Queensland. Death of miners in coal mines become the fact of life style. In India Between 2009 and 2013, there had been 752 registered fatalities in mining activities in India, according to the Office of Directorate General of Mines Safety, Ministry of Labor and Employment. According to Indian express news, during the time between January and June 2016 inside India coal mines there have been a death of workers every third day.

In 2017 China saw 219 coal mine accidents, causing 375 deaths, dropping by 12 percent and 28.7 percent year on year, severally, as indicated by the country’s top coal mine safety watchdog. According those research studies, after creating Institute of Miners’ in republic of India, the death toll numbers have started to drop, reduced and has better outcome than state administration of work safety and coal in China.

Discussion

According all data and information, gathered towards public health approaches to the health care of coal miners in China and India, there can be discussed that, in these mentioned countries coal industry is one of the most important energetic source for their population, but the coal mines still are being places famous with their workers death and these is remaining very serious and problematic for both governments.

Moreover, there can be said that In these developing country’s governments and public health departments made some decisions, some approaches to solve this problems but the unfortunate reality is that it’s not enough, and death toll number isn’t changing positively like developed countries, USA, Queensland. In China and India there aren’t exist some medical clinics specially for their workers, people who are damaged during working time, also there aren’t some medical schemes and health insurances, which can protect these people’s health, miners which have very high chances for damaging, injuring and harming their health, this is a real fact that they sacrificing themselves and making their countries energetically provided.

In conclusion, if there is done comparative analyzing, that which one of them approaches can be judged as best resulted, Chinese or Indian approaches, somehow both of them have the same percentage numbers of reducing death toll of miners, there approaches aren’t enough for preventing these hazards caused by coal mining. The facts are that after creating laws by Indian ministry of mines, coal mine regulations and rules the miners are feeling safety rather in the past but not like miners in developed countries, also Chinese miners with help of administration of work safety, are not harmed as seriously as before controlling their working processes and overlooking their problems by this organization.