Waste pickers and recyclers in the informal sector are at risk of contracting and transmitting several diseases that can be deemed occupational hazards, according to initial results of a survey released yesterday.

The survey, carried out by the Southern Institute of Sustainable Development, polled 246 informal waste pickers and 54 recyclers in seven districts – 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, Binh Thanh and Go Vap – in HCM City.

More than 82 per cent of the respondents had no access to health insurance, with most saying they could not afford either voluntary or mandatory (where the State pays part of the premium) healthcare schemes.

However, among those who did have some form of health insurance, most participated in voluntary health insurance schemes, the survey found.

The most common diseases afflicting informal waste pickers and reyclers are dengue fever, influenza, skin diseases, lung diseases, bronchitis, pneumonia, backache and diarrhea.

When the diseases occurred, most of them bought medicines at drug stores without prescriptions and did not bother to seek treatment at hospitals, the survey found.

More than 66.4 per cent of 146 informal rag pickers contracting dengue fever said they did not attend treatment at hospitals.

This was also true of around 60 per cent of 88 workers who suffered various skin diseases.

Since the informal waste pickers and recyclers worked at least eight hours a day, seven days a week, they were at higher than normal risks of contracting contagious diseases.

The survey was part of a project being implemented between 2011 and 2013 by the international non-government organisation Environment and Development in Action (Enda).

The project, with a total cost of 1.26 million euros (US$1.7 million) funded by the European Commission, aims to improve working conditions of informal waste pickers and recyclers as well as reducing health risk factors in Madagascar, Ethiopia, Colombia and Viet Nam.

It also helps to improve the access to health insurance and other social services.

In Viet Nam, the project, which has funding of more than 176,800 euros, is being implemented by Enda Viet Nam in collaboration with the HCM City Labour Federation.

It will benefit 2,500-3,500 individual waste pickers and recyclers and an estimated total of 10,000-14,000 in the seven targeted districts.

VNS