Strengthening occupational health service (OHS) organization: Comparative models of Malaysia and Turkey

Strengthening Occupational Health Service (OHS) Organization
– comparative models of Malaysia and Turkey.

 Establishing a model of OHS is a challenge for all. It entails looking into complexities of available services and the varied factors affecting the extent and impact of services on targetted community. We must consider the differences with regards countries’ socio-economics, political inclinations, governance, infrastructure, health services and labour organizations, as well as in types of labour forces and structure. A model must take into consideration factors versatility, committed by policy makers, user-friendly, acceptable to all, easily accessible by working community, preventive in nature, reflecting the country’s OSH scenario, and comparable across and between nations. It should follow principles of Primary Health Care (PHC) and should be based on established PHC facilities. It must serve small industries as well as the informal sectors comprising of women, elderly and child, and migrant workers. Turkey and Malaysia have many similarities despite being geographically far apart - one lies surrounded by the developed European neighbours; the other lies far among the developing Asian nations. Socio-economic and health characteristic are comparable by most indicators. One has a population of 73.9 million in land area of 779,452 sq.km, while the other has 27.3 million people inhabitating in 336,745 sq.km area. Malaysia and Turkey with 43.9% labour participation (12 million workers) and 48.7% (23 millions) respectively produced (in 2007) a GDP of USD 361.2 billion and 853.9 billion respectively. In gearing these economies, both countries are serious in the development of their Occupational Safety and Health Services to address issues of discrepancy in coverage and inequitability in informal sectors. Both require strengthening of the delivery systems. This paper presents models to compare OHS available in Malaysia and Turkey, variegated by their different health delivery systems. A proposed assessment and evaluation matrix are also included.