Brasília, May 4, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - According to an estimate by the Ministry of Social Security, mental disturbances, together with workplace accidents, are already the third cause of work absences in Brazil. Surpassed only by high blood pressure and post-surgical recovery. In view of the gravity of the situation, national and international authorities have been meeting since yesterday (3) in Goiânia, capital of the state of Goiás, at the First International Congress on Mental Health at Work. The purpose of the encounter is to discuss the prevention of mental illnesses, to forestall social and economic losses.

Luiz Eduardo Guimarães Bojart, chief attorney of the Regional Labor Solicitors Office in the 18th Region (the state of Goiás and the Federal District), believes that work is a factor that integrates citizens in the country's productive process. "Nevertheless," he cautions, "in becoming a full citizen, the worker's psychological integrity is assaulted and damaged under certain occupational circumstances." According to Bojart, in relation to their jobs, workers are affected by symptoms such as depression, stress, and panic syndrome. "These factors can even go as far as excluding them from productive activity," he alerted.

In his evaluation of the First International Congress on Mental Health at Work, Bojart pronounced the meeting a success. "We are involved in a major exchange with psychologists, jurists, international agencies, and the International Labor Organization," he pointed out.

The Congress, which is sponsored by the Superior School of the Federal Public Defenders Office (MPU), the Goiás Institute of Labor Law, and the Regional Labor Solicitors Office in the 18th Region, will continue through Wednesday (5). The agenda still includes the discussion of issues such as the management of workplace medicine and safety and the authority of the Labor Court system to protect the mental health of workers.

Translator: David Silberstein