Health care challenge in coal mines community.

The present paper depicts salient features of environment and living conditions with the comparison of various diseases prevalent among underground coal miners, surface workers, asbestos mine workers and general population of Jharia-Dhanbad coalfield as conducted by CMRS during the past few years. The investigations on coal miners' community comprise of different morbid conditions with respiratory (22%), Pneumoconiosis (11.6%), Skin (35%), Eye (29%), Intestinal parasitic infestation (44.6%), Anaemia (42%), Immunostatus (V.D.R.L. Positive-19.9%), Status of injuries and Blood pressure, Water-borne diseases, housing facilities and excreta disposal. The paper also includes the analysis of disease pattern obtained from hospital records of two coal mines which depicts 19.1%, 24.7% and 16% members of coal miners' families suffering from disorder with respiratory, gastro-intestinal and fever respectively. With speedy industrialization of the country, the mining of coal resource comes first in the chain of socio-economic development. The speedy human industrial activities are based on 80% steam, metallurgical and thermal electrical energy which hinges on coal wings. The coal has also gradually occupied all the phases of social life, our clothes, books, newspapers, cooking gas, chemical paints, dye stuff, oil phenyl, Benzene, Naphthalene, Coal tar, scents and various types of unaccountable products come out from coal derivatives and pushed to serve in the today's market for our daily exigencies. Every day one finds a new coal based industry is coming up in the area. The coal is utilized in two hundred ways in our various walks of social life.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)