Silicosis among pit diggers was first described in 1984. Two years later, a focus of the disease was detected in the region of Ibiapaba, State of Ceará, Brazil. The aims of this study were: 1) to present the educational program to which these workers and their families were submitted; 2) to study, in this population, the impact of the educational program on the knowledge about silicosis and on the behavior changes in the pit digging activity. First, a primary preventing educational intervention (PPEI) was created as per the critical awareness-raising method by Paulo Freire, and applied to this population. Subsequently, the role of PPEI on silicosis control among the pit diggers was studied. In the region there were 1202 pit diggers, and 687 from 5 selected towns were submitted to PPEI. Out of these, 287 workers participated of the second part of the study. All of them were male, ages from 18 to 78 years, 115 were silicotic, 122 non-silicotic, and 46 did not know their health status. Results show that PPEI brought to silicotic and non-silicotic workers a deep knowledge about the relationship between pit digging and silicosis, and induced most of them (85.8%) to quit this activity. PPEI itself promoted an awareness of this population about silicosis, interrupting the epidemiological cycle of the disease in the region of Ibiapaba.

Keywords: Silicosis. Epidemiology. Occupational lung diseases.