International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Conference Report
Improving Education and Training to Reduce the Burden of Occupational Cancer
The Riga-European Association of Schools of Occupational Medicine
(EASOM) Statement on Work-Related Cancer
Begoña Martínez-Jarreta 1,* , Nicole Majery 2, Petar Bulat 3 , Soile Jungewelter 4, Elena-Ana Păuncu 5, Dieter Weigel 6, Marija Bubas 7, Alenka Škerjanc 8, Ivars Vanadzins 9, Maija Eglite 10, Marcos Larrosa 11, Susan Jill Stocks 12 and Lode Godderis 13
1 Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zaragoza and Scientific Research Group
GIIS-063 (IIS-Aragón), 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
2 Service du Santé au Travail, Multisectoriel (STM), 1630 Luxembourg, Luxembourg;
3 Department of Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia;
4 Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH), FI-00250 Helsinki, Finland;
5 Discipline of Occupational Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Victor Babes”, 300041 Timi¸soara,
Romania;
6 Academy of Occupational Medicine and Public Health, 12159 Berlin, Germany;
7 Croatian Institute of Public Health, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia;
8 Clinical Institute of Occupational Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia;
9 Institute of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health, Riga Stradins University, LV1007 Riga, Latvia;
10 Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Riga Stradins University, LV1007 Riga, Latvia;
11 Internal Medicine Department, University Hospital Lozano Blesa, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain;
12 Health Services Research & Primary Care, Division of Population Health, University of Manchester,
Manchester M13 9PL, UK;
13 Centre for Environment and Health, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium;
* Correspondence:
Received: 31 October 2019; Accepted: 25 March 2020; Published: 28 March 2020
Reducing the burden of occupational cancers (OCs) is currently one of the most challenging Occupational Health (OH) issues. The European Union (EU) has made efforts to improve the existing legal framework and developed specific legislation aimed at reducing the burden of OC. However, available data suggest that OC are underreported. In August 2019, the European Association of Schools of Occupational Medicine (EASOM) adopted a statement that highlighted the importance of improving the education and training of Medical Doctors (MDs) to facilitate improvements in recognizing and reporting OC. To achieve this, EASOM proposes to promote OH education and training of MDs at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, foster harmonization of OH education and teaching standards and programs across EU countries, and enhance cooperation between
universities and international scientific associations. Finally, we suggest that occupational data should be recorded in cancer and medical registers. By engaging MDs more fully in the debate about OCs,
they will become more aware of the Occupational Physician’s role in reducing the burden of OCs and, furthermore, embed consideration of occupation as a potential cause of cancer into their own practice.
These interventions will help promote the implementation of policies and interventions aimed to reduce OC in the workplace.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 2279; doi:10.3390/ijerph17072279 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerphInt. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 2279 2 of 8