Occupational Medicine (OM) is the area of preventive medicine that focuses on the relationships among the health of workers, the ability to perform work, the arrangements of work, and the physical, chemical, and social environments of the workplace. Practitioners in this field recognize that work and the environment in which work is performed can have favorable or adverse effects on the health of workers as well as on that of other populations.
In Egypt, the safety and health of workers has been a legal matter of concern since the beginning of the last century. Recently this concern has been increased especially with the inspiration and remit from the newly approved Constitution of Egypt. Article 18 of the Constitution sets a measurable target for health sector investment by stating that government health expenditure be increased to at least 3% of gross domestic product (GDP).
In Egypt occupational medicine continues to be one of medicine's smallest specialties facing challenges in terms of demand for consultants and trainees in occupational health and safety practice. The decline in the number of occupational physicians is surprising when occupational health is such an important aspect of health. Occupational injuries and illnesses are among the five leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Indeed, occupational physicians practice within the framework of a seriously flawed workers' compensation system. Enormous political and economic pressures from employers, insurers, and business organizations have made the workers' compensation system malfunction. Workers' compensation should be drastically revamped to restore its integrity. As physicians concerned with providing worker patients an independent, objective medical service free from perverse economic incentives and employer pressures, we need to work to see that it happens.