Hanoi  - Work-related deafness and lung disease are rising rapidly among blue-collar workers in Vietnam, the country's top occupational health official said Monday.

"There's no doubt about it, occupational diseases are rising fast among Vietnam's blue-collar workers," said Le Van Trinh, director of the National Institute of Labour Protection.

Trinh said hearing loss and lung disease were the most common

medical problems among blue-collar workers, due partly to sub-standard working conditions, and partly to workers ignoring safety measures such as ear protectors and dust masks.

The official Vietnam News reported Monday that company-provided health checkups on 7,662 workers in Ho Chi Minh City so far this year found 1,073 suffered from work-related hearing loss.

The city's Environmental and Health Protection Centre said it had inspected 465 workplaces, and found noise exceeding permissible levels at most of them.

The centre said heavy industries such as steelmaking, construction and shipbuilding, as well as factory environments in the garment and textile industries, posed the greatest risks to workers.

Trinh said his institute's national figures on the problem were inadequate. Officially, he said, insurance companies over the past 20 years had paid for treatment for 24,000 workers suffering from pneumoconiosis and 8,000 suffering from hearing loss.

But he said the real figures were much higher, as only 680,000 of the 16 million workers entitled to regular checkups were actually receiving them.

"I have more complete numbers, but I am not allowed to release them because some people do not want them released," Trinh said. (dpa)