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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Rachel Rubin, MD, MPH, Division Chair, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, 1900 W. Polk Street, Room 500, Chicago, IL 60612, 312-864-5520, rrubin@uic.edu and C. Eduardo Siqueira, MD, ScD, Department of Community Health and Sustainability, UMass Lowell, 1 University Avenue, Kitson 200, Lowell, MA 01854.

This panel will discuss the recent occupational health policy developments in Brazil and Venezuela, which embody alternatives to neoliberal occupational health policies for the Americas.

The Brazilian case will focus on the year-long process that led to the III National Conference of Workers Health, held in November 2005 in Brasília. This conference was attended by about 1,200 delegates elected by state and county assemblies throughout the country. It is estimated that over 100,000 Brazilian citizens participated in the debates prior to the national conference, which decided on the occupational health policies that should be implemented by the Brazilian government. The resolutions of the Conference will be discussed with stakeholders throughout 2006 to leverage a variety of initiatives at the local and state levels. The Venezuelan case will focus on a similar democratic process that led to the enactment of a new occupational safety and health legislation titled Organic Law of Prevention, Working Conditions and Work Environment (abbreviated as LOPCYMAT in Spanish). This new law introduced several new democratic reforms that establish the role of the Ministry of Labor and social actors (workers, employers, unions, etc) in preventing workplace hazards. The Law established a series of democratic mechanisms for the Venezuelan people to participate in policy-making at the local, state and national levels.

Learning Objectives:

• 1)Describe the main aspects of the occupational health policies implemented in Brazil and Venezuela
• 2)Identify the key social actors involved in the implementation of the policies in both countries
• 3)Explain how the development of the occupational health policies differ from the neoliberal model of policymaking.

Keywords: International Public Health, Latin American

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No