High Disease Burden among Sanitation Workers of Shimla Municipality in Himachal Pradesh, India - A Leading Cause of Adult Mortality

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to explore the work practices, injuries, illnesses, working conditions and other hazards faced by Shimla city municipal solid waste collectors and sanitary workers in the course of discharging their duties. The sample for the study comprised three hundred and eighty (380) solid waste collectors, drainage cleaners and septic tank cleaners selected through convenient sampling technique, through open interviews. Their supervisors also formed part of the sample. From July 27, 2012 to Nov 27, 2014 (28 Months), a total of 16 sanitary workers, including two women, died of various ailments, which means death of one worker every two months. Majorities were in their mid forties and suffered cardiovascular ailments like heart attacks. A total of 33 sanitary workers died within 2 years of their retirement that is before reaching the age of 61 years most of them due to heart attack. There is a strong need for periodic health surveillance of   sanitary workers to detect early signs of non-communicable diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes etc. among them and educate them regarding balanced diet and risk of excessive alcohol, non-veg food and smoking. There are facilities nearby to treat communicable diseases. However, now the trend of suffering of sanitary workers is shifting from communicable to non communicable diseases that are not taken care of at early stage and hence compound the problems for them.