Occupational cancer burden in developing countries and the problem of informal workers

Most workplaces in developing countries are “informal”, i.e. they are not regularly surveyed/inspected and laws for workers’ protection are not implemented. Research on occupational risks in informal workplaces and the related cancer burden is needed. The results of studies addressing exposures among informal workers are difficult to generalize because of the specificities of social contexts, and study populations are small. The estimation of the burden of cancers attributable to occupational exposures is also made difficult by the fact that occupational cancers are usually clinically indistinguishable from those unrelated to occupation.