engleski

History of occupational health in Croatia

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper was to examine the first works that dealt with the health of workers in Croatia, historical development of occupational health and the present state of occupational medicine in Croatia. METHODS: Collection of data has been from archival records on the history of medicine in Croatia, as well as from available archives and health institutions' annual reports. RESULTS: The first written traces (1776) in Croatia describe the serfs' living and working conditions, and their diseases. This appeared in Varazdin in the first medical book in Croatian. Zeljko Hahn (1876-51), who between 1912 and 1935 developed an industrial accident and tuberculosis prevention plan concerning workers, is considered the founder of Croatia's modern occupational medicine. Andrija Stampar, one of the founders of the World Health Organization, devoted in 1925 one chapter of his book "Social medicine " to work pathology. In 1939, Branko Kesic published a book titled "Work hygiene and industrial diseases in miners and workers of the firms regulated by mining laws". At the end of 1947 came the establishment of the Institute for Work Hygiene (presently called Institute of Medical Research and Occupational Health). The year 1949 marked the beginning of regular postgraduate courses, first on work hygiene and then on occupational health. They were provided at the School of Public Health Andrija Stampar. The first 3-year specialization course in occupational health began in 1960. Operating since 1997 at the Zagreb University's School of Medicine has been a Chair for Medical Ecology and Occupational Health that was formerly part of the Chair for Hygiene, Social Medicine and Epidemiology. In 1963, Croatian Medical Association established an Society on Occupational Health that was one of the organizers of the 19th International Congress on Occupational Health in Dubrovnik. A review named "Work hygiene and toxicology archive" has been coming out in Zagreb since 1950. Its publisher is Institute of Medical Research and Occupational Health, with Croatian Society on Occupational Health and Croatian Toxicological Society as co-publishers. In this country, occupational health activity dates from the foundation of factory medical units at around 1948. Until 1993, workers had received comprehensive health care. From then on, they have been receiving preventive medical services only. Today, organized occupational health exists on the primary care level in consulting rooms in public health centres or in private practices. At the tertiary level, Croatian Institute for Occupational Health was established in 1993. Its charge is proposing, planning and implementing measures for the maintenance and promotion of workers' health, as well as creating a doctrine, standards and working methods in the area of industrial medicine. CONCLUSION: Despite the long tradition of occupational health in Croatia, employees of that service currently have both to struggle for their recognition and for the maintenance of their status. Consequently, the Occupational Health Service employs only 143 (40.5%) of 353 total occupational medical specialists. Specializing in occupational health now is chiefly for the needs of the army and judiciary.

occupational health; history

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