Les missions du Fonds des Maladies Professionnelles. La sous-déclaration des cancers respiratoires professionnels, en particulier dus à l'amiante The missions of the Occupational Diseases Fund. Under-claim and recognition of occupational lung cancer, in particular those related to asbestos

The missions of the Occupational Diseases Fund are defined in application of the law regarding the insurance against occupational diseases. The workers covered by this law are granted several rights, such as a financial compensation in case of temporary or permanent disability, a further compensation if they have to be taken away from the risk in the workplace, the reimbursement of health care costs related to the occupational disease, or the payment of an annuity to the widow(er) if death is its ultimate consequence. Among the compensable diseases, we shall focus on lung cancer, and especially the one related to asbestos exposure. This type of cancer is clearly under-registrated in Belgium as in most countries of the European Union, leading to an insufficient number of cases entitled to compensation by our institution. In this instance, the insurance against occupational diseases and all related social advantages are hugely under-exploited in our country. It is our duty to increase doctors' awareness of the problem and spread accurate information to reverse this trend and provide occupational cancer cases with a legitimate compensation, in particular those related to asbestos. A wider knowledge of the occupational history of cancer patients, thanks to occupational physicians, and a better use of mineralogical analyses on lung samples, would improve this situation inacceptable on any level : medical, social or even human.