Care or public health? Transformative research carried out by GISCOPE 84

Résumé 0

Environmental health is a neglected area of health research, even when it comes to occupational cancers, which are among the world’s most inequitable diseases. This lack of attention is largely due to the fact that in France, according to estimates from the national health insurance system (l’Assurance maladie), 95% of occupational cancers—those caused by chemical exposures in the workplace—are not officially recognized as such. The creation of scientific interest groups, first in Seine-Saint-Denis and then in Vaucluse, aimed to draw the attention of public health institutions, support victims in their efforts to obtain recognition and compensation, and produce knowledge related to these exposures and their underreporting. Moritz Hunsmann presents the transformative research conducted in Vaucluse, its key actors, and their experiences.