Voyi’s argument becomes even stronger with the fact that 80% of the world’s GDP is produced in industrialized countries and only about 20% in developing countries. In other words, one fifth of the world’s working population produces four fifths of the world GDP [5]. It follows that wealth and prosperity are extremely unequally shared between developing and industrialized countries. This is despite the fact that 80% of the global workforce resides in the developing world [6], and is employed in unhealthy and unsafe working conditions [7].
Already in 1995, the World Health Organization alerted that approximately 30–50% of workers report hazardous physical, chemical or biological exposures or overload of unreasonably heavy physical work or ergonomic factors that may be hazardous to health and to working capacity; an equal number of working people report psychological overload at work resulting in stress symptoms [8]. Worldwide there is no evidence that there has been any improvement of this unacceptable situation.
So why is still so little being done? Some experts reiterate that the inadequacy of funding allocations impedes the development of international occupational health, partly due to the fact that other health issues compete with occupational health [9]. Another general issue pertains to the fact that occupational diseases emanating from physical and psychosocial hazards are not included in the definition of easily preventable diseases. In fact, decision-makers in most developing countries still perceive occupational health as a luxury, which is one reason for lack of political action [10], poor data collection, and weak enforcement of occupational health and safety regulations. These emerging trends are accompanied by the growth of service industries which has been associated with an increase in stress-related diseases [11].