BEIJING - Chinese lawmakers have proposed further moves to facilitate the procedure for helping those suffering from occupational illnesses, according to a draft law amendment submitted to a bimonthly session of the national legislature which opened Monday.

The draft amendment to the Law on Occupational Illness Prevention and Control will undergo its third reading at the session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, which is set to run until Saturday.

The draft, which includes the latest input from legislators, stipulates that local governments can arrange other ways for patients to get treatment if their former employers no longer exist or if the claimed original work relations can not be ascertained.

In proposing the article, lawmakers have referred to the reality that many people who have sustained occupational illnesses can not receive appropriate treatment due to a lack of access to quality medical services.

More than 27,000 new cases of work-related illness were reported in 2010, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health.

The draft amendment had undergone two readings by the NPC Standing Committee in June and October, respectively.