The release of doves outside St Bartholomew’s Hospital on 1st July this year - National Mesothelioma Action Day
There are several diseases linked with exposure to asbestos, some are fatal but all damage the health and quality of life of those affected. Not everyone exposed to asbestos will become ill. The only way to protect against development of these diseases is to prevent exposure. London Hazards Centre has campaigned against asbestos use and for safe management of asbestos since it opened.
How much do you know about asbestos?
Take the HSE’s awareness quiz: HSE ASBESTOS FACTS QUIZ
Listen to former England and Arsenal footballer Ian Wright, who used to be a plasterer, talk about the dangers of asbestos. He says:
“We must take this seriously because it is deadly serious. If it was 20 premier league players dying a week it would mean in 3 months there’d be no premier league.”
Listen to Ian Wright here: IAN WRIGHT ON THE DANGERS OF ASBESTOS
What if you find out you have a fatal asbestos disease?
If it is lung cancer or mesothelioma there is no point in pretending – its bad news and the averages say you have very little time left.
But averages are just that and some people, as with all cancers, are luckier than others having more pain free years than predicted by the statistics. If your doctor won’t tell you how long at first, it is likely because they cannot say – but make sure you get referred to a specialist center- then trust your doctors.
New treatments come on board all the time. Find out about them through the asbestos forum: ASBESTOS VICTIMS SUPPORT GROUPS UK
And if it helps, join in campaigns: ASBESTOS TREATMENTS MATTER
THE MAIN TYPES OF ASBESTOS DISEASE
Cancers
The main types are:
Other asbestos diseases
Asbestosis: permanent scarring of the lung making it hard to breathe – over time great stress is placed on the heart. Severe asbestosis, needing oxygen, is thought to be related to very high levels of exposure.
Pleural thickening of the lining of the lung, can restrict breathing if extensive.
Pleural Plaques are localised areas of thickening or scarring. In England compensation is not currently available.
COMPENSATION
Can be obtained if you were exposed at work, lived near an asbestos factory, or washed overalls. Not every claim succeeds, but asbestos specialist lawyers try hard, taking employers and insurers to court and representing victims exposed abroad. Compensation can be obtained through the courts - civil claims - and there are state benefit schemes for some cases of exposure at work: Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, The Pneumoconiosis Fund (PWC) & Diffuse Mesothelioma Scheme (DMS) pay lump sums. Specialist legal advice should be sought as soon as possible, preferably within 3 years from finding out you are ill. Call the Centre if you want to be put in touch with an asbestos specialist lawyer.
BARKING AND DAGENHAM
This article by Emily Duggan in the Independent on Sunday describes the history of asbestos exposures in this borough and the work of the Barking and Dagenham Asbestos Victims Support Group which London Hazards Centre was involved in setting up: Barking and Dagenham Asbestos legacy
CANADIAN ASBESTOS
This is an excellent article by John Calvert: Canada’s Asbestos Policy: An Ongoing Threat to Building Workers Health in Canada and Around the Globe. CLR News 4-2010 John Calvert is Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Canada. CLR is the European Institute for Construction Labour Research, find them at www.clr.news.org
