The Medical Community's Role in Communication Strategies during Health Crises-Perspective from European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS).

The COVID-19 pandemic was complicated by the spread of false information leading to what became widely called an "infodemic". The present opinion paper was written by an ad hoc international team united under the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) umbrella and reflects the organizations' effort to contribute to the resolution of these issues, by highlighting and reflecting on them and by suggesting the medical community's necessary activities resulting in the formulation of effective future communication strategies. The importance of physicians' and other health workers' role and mission as educators and leaders in communities in critical situations should be reassessed and upgraded. We need to equip future doctors with strong and sustainable leadership and communication skills through relevant undergraduate and postgraduate education programs, in order that compliance with preventive medical advice is increased. To avoid possible politically and otherwise biased communication in health crises of the future, European nations should establish independent advisory bodies providing evidence-based advice and participate in communication campaigns. Medical and other health professional organizations should build organizational and personal capacities of their members to enable them to reliably inform and adequately educate governments, populations, civic society, employers' and employees' organizations, schools and universities, and other stakeholders.

Occupational dermatoses by type of work in Greece.

BACKGROUND: To elucidate the relationship between seven occupational dermatoses (ODs) and 20 types of work in Greece. METHODS: This was a prevalence epidemiologic study of certain ODs among 4,000 workers employed in 20 types of enterprise, in 104 companies, in 2006-2012, using data from company medical records, questionnaires, occupational medical, and special examinations. The χ(2) test was applied to reveal statistically significant relationships between types of enterprises and occurrence of ODs. RESULTS: A high percentage (39.9%) of employees included in the study population suffered from ODs. The highest prevalence rates were noted among hairdressers (of contact dermatitis: 30%), cooks (of contact dermatitis: 29.5%), bitumen workers (of acne: 23.5%), car industry workers (of mechanical injury: 15%), construction workers (of contact urticaria: 29.5%), industrial cleaning workers (of chemical burns: 13%), and farmers (of malignant tumors: 5.5%). We observed several statistical significant correlations between ODs (acute and chronic contact dermatitis, urticaria, mechanical injury, acne, burns, skin cancer) and certain types of enterprises. There was no statistically significant correlation between gender and prevalence of ODs, except for dermatoses caused by mechanical injuries afflicting mainly men [χ(2) (1) = 13.40, p < 0.001] and for chronic contact dermatitis [χ(2) (1) = 5.53, p = 0.019] afflicting mainly women. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of ODs is high in Greece, contrary to all official reports by the Greek National Institute of Health. There is a need to introduce a nationwide voluntary surveillance system for reporting ODs and to enhance skin protection measures at work.

Photo competition as a tool for providing occupational health education to general secondary school students.

OBJECTIVES: Education on occupational health and safety (OHS) is not a compulsory part of the curriculum of general secondary schools (GSSs) in many countries. Adolescence is a formative period. Mainstreaming education in OHS into GSSs is necessary in order to initiate in students a risk prevention culture. We explored the feasibility of using a photo competition (PC) concerning health protection at work as a health education tool by assessing the degrees of relevant responses of students aged 13-18, teachers, parents and private enterprises and by identifying the types of work and hazards selected in 17 state and non-state GSSs of a Greek municipality. METHODS: Following the mayor's decision to hold a PC, prizes were secured from 11 private donors, the PC was publicized widely, and presentations on OHS were delivered to students by an occupational physician and suitably instructed teachers; the students then took photos of identifiable work situations containing OHS hazards, with protection either present or absent. Photos were assessed by juries of the Municipality and of the European Centre for the Environment and Health of the WHO. RESULTS: The 87 photos submitted revealed that students had an understanding of 15 types of OHS hazards, mainly knocks and blows (28.7%) and falls from heights (26.4%) but also of diseases (respiratory, back pain, hearing loss), in 28 types of non-school work, mostly in transport (12.6%) and construction (9.1%), and recognized measures for protection in 50.5% of photos. CONCLUSIONS: This PC concerning OHS in GSSs is the first reported in the literature, and it proved to be a feasible, extracurricular educational activity that requires increased teacher collaboration within the school curriculum.