During the month of March 2022, Glasen Tekstilec held an event - discussion and promotion of the analysis Occupational diseases of female textile workers from Macedonia, as part of the regional project that we are implementing together with the Gender Alliance for Development Centre from Tirana, Albania, and is supported by the Olof Palme International Centre and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
Kristina Ampeva from Glasen Tekstilec welcomed the presence of the large number of workers, civic activists, medical students, trade unionists, representatives from local government and the media.
The Mayor of the Municipality of Shtip, Mr. Ivan Jordanov, emphasized his support for the work of Glasen Tekstilec, the importance of the existence of the association, and greeted those present at the event and followed the entire event.
This analysis was prepared by Mr. Milan Petkovski from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and Prof. Dr. Elisaveta Stikova, and published by Glasen Tekstilec.
At yesterday's event, the authors of the analysis, Milan Petkovski and Elisaveta Stikova, spoke, providing an overview of the results and recommendations from the analysis. Milan Petkovski from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare highlighted the situation with occupational health and safety in the textile industry and the need for a register for occupational diseases among textile workers. Prof. Dr. Stikova, through a presentation, ranked the most common health problems registered among over 6,000 textile workers, which are vision problems, anemia, as well as cardiovascular diseases. The inspector from the State Labor Inspectorate in the Occupational Safety and Health Sector, Liljana Trayanova, emphasized the need for education and information for textile industry employees about what musculoskeletal disorders (CTD) mean and how these disorders affect the quality of life.Mirela Arqimandriti from GADC, Albania, who joined live, welcomed the attendees and spoke about the regional project being implemented by the two organizations and the upcoming joint activities.
At the end of the discussion, Kristina Ampeva again thanked everyone for their presence, but also asked for support from all those present at the event to continue to highlight this problem and put pressure on the authorities to improve these conditions, all with the aim of ensuring the well-being of workers and for this industry to continue to exist with better conditions and care for the health and safety of employees.
The project is financially supported by the Olof Palme Center and the Swedish Government.
