Worldwide Epidemic Personal Accounts
Asbestos 'will kill 500,000' by 2020 - Clydebank, UK
November 10, 1998
BBC. More than half-a-million people could die of asbestosis over the next 20 years, according to a senior doctor.
Dr Robin Howie, of the British Occupational Hygiene Society, told a conference in Clydebank, near Glasgow, that hundreds of thousands of tons of asbestos currently in buildings needed to be removed.
Stricter controls were needed on the removal of the substance, he said.
Clydebank (a shipyard town) is the town with the highest death rate from asbestos poisoning in the UK. The main disease caused by asbestos inhalation is asbestosis, which includes the scarring of lung tissue, lung cancer, mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the chest and lungs) and fluid on the lungs.
Locky Cameron, a spokesperson for Clydebank Asbestos Group, said: "We need to put pressure on the government to introduce a ban, but also a ban on importing asbestos.
"We also need to remove brick walls and red-tape so that sufferers can get compensation as quickly as possible." "My husband's life was cut short because of the disease," she said. "I don't want other people to have to go through what I did and will campaign strongly if it means it will help others."
Dr Howie said: "The rise in the number of sufferers means there will be increased demand on the health service, particularly in this area where there is a high rate of cases.
"More health and safety officials need to be deployed and sent into buildings where people are dealing with asbestos on a more regular basis."
He said that people who worked with asbestos and who smoked were particularly at risk.
He said: "We need to tell people who are in contact with asbestos to stop smoking now if they want to prevent the disease."
Official figures suggest that 10,000 people a year will be dying of asbestosis by the year 2020 because of lack of action on asbestosis in previous decades. Up to 3,000 die currently.