Abstract
Our research estimated the economic costs of possible cases of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP) among redeployed coal workers from the Fuxin Mining Industry Group. The study cohort included 19,116 coal workers between 1965 and 2012. We estimated direct and indirect economic costs due to possible current and future CWP cases among redeployed coal workers. We found as of 2012 that 141 possible CWP cases might have resulted in economic costs of $37.52 million ($33.84 million were direct and $3.68 million indirect). Moreover, 221 possible future CWP cases would result in economic costs of $63.89 million ($57.20 million direct and $6.69 million indirect). Neither the Fuxin Mining Industry Group nor Fuxin could cover the costs of CWP screening and diagnosis, or social security payments for redeployed coal workers. We suggest that China’s national government help Liaoning Province and Fuxin focus on health care and social security.
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Funding
This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71073176); the Program for Liaoning Innovative Research Team in University (No. LT2015028); the General Program of Scientific Research of the Educational Department of Liaoning Province (No. L2015573).
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Han, B., Liu, H., Zhai, G. et al. Estimated economic costs of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis among coal workers redeployed from the Fuxin mining group in China. J Public Health Pol 39, 57–67 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-017-0093-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-017-0093-9