YHP China
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Location
National.
Timing
2025-2026
The local context
Air quality is formally acknowledged as the fifth risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by the WHO, putting it alongside tobacco smoking, alcohol misuse, poor diet and underactivity.1
In China, a concerning trend of cases of pneumoconiosis (a lung disease caused by the inhalation of dust particles, leading to inflammation and scarring in the lungs) has emerged among younger individuals, particularly those born in the 1990s.
Traditionally associated with middle-aged and elderly workers in established industries, pneumoconiosis is now affecting young workers in emerging sectors like denture processing, hydropower excavation, and quartz stone table cutting where there is a high dust concentration in the work environment.
This shift underscores the urgent need for targeted interventions to protect this vulnerable young group and prevent the occurrence of further related NCDs in later life.2
Our objectives
- Enhance health awareness: educate young individuals about the health risks of working in dust-exposed industries.
- Foster healthy work environments: collaborate with the dust industry to promote safer and healthier workplace practices.
- Integrate occupational health education: advocate for the inclusion of occupational health topics in the mandatory educational curriculum.
Our focus
Addressing pneumoconiosis prevention for young people who may be entering industries with hazardous dust exposure.
Our programme
In partenrship with China Social Aid Foundation Love Save Pneumoconiosis Fund, YHP China focuses on prevention and awareness by:
- Educating students: conducting lectures and interactive campaigns in vocational high schools to teach young people about occupational health, pneumoconiosis, and lung health.
- Engaging industry: initiating efforts with dust-related industries to eliminate silica dust hazards, establish industry standards, and create a consensus for safer workplaces.
Our achievements
Our targets for 2025 are:
Youth engagement: conduct 60 on-campus lung health activities, including lectures and interactive games, directly impacting over 18,000 teenagers and enhancing their awareness of occupational and lung health.
Media outreach: produce 15 short videos for social media and release at least 40 press articles to broaden the project's reach and influence.
Industry collaboration: host one hybrid industry initiative conference to foster collaboration and standard-setting in dust-related industries.
Our partners
Reference:
1. BMJ, 2018, Air pollution moves up the global health agenda, BMJ 2018; 363. Available at https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k4933.full accessed 29 April 2019.
2. Survey on Pneumoconiosis Migrant Workers in China(2023), China Social Aid Foundation Love Save Pneumoconiosis Fund, 2024.
Consensus of Chinese experts on pneumoconiosis treatment (2024), Occupational Lung Disease Group of Labor Hygiene and Occupational Diseases Branch of Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, 2024.
Artificial stone-associated silicosis in China: A prospective comparison with natural stone-associated silicosis, 2019 Asian Pacific Society of Respirology.