Towards elimination of asbestos-related diseases

According to WHO estimates about 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos at the workplace and more than 107,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from occupational exposure to asbestos. In addition, it is estimated that several thousands of deaths can be attributed annually to exposure to asbestos in the living environment. In 2010 IARC reviewed the most recent evidence on carcinogenicity of asbestos fibers and concluded that all forms of asbestos cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and cancers of the ovaries and the larynx.  For these reasons, in 2007 the World Health Assembly requested WHO to carry out "a global campaign for elimination of asbestos-related diseases - bearing in mind a differentiated approach to regulating its various forms - in line with the relevant international legal instruments and the latest evidence for effective interventions…" WHO''s assistance to eliminate asbestos-related diseases is therefore particularly targeted to those countries that still use chrysotile asbestos, in addition to assistance in relation to exposures arising from historical use of all forms of asbestos.   WHO, in collaboration with ILO and with other intergovernmental organizations and civil society, works with countries towards elimination of asbestos-related diseases in the following strategic directions:  - by recognizing that the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related diseases is to stop the use of all types of asbestos;  - by providing information about solutions for replacing asbestos with safer substitutes and developing economic and technological mechanisms to stimulate its replacement;  - by taking measures to prevent exposure to asbestos in place and during asbestos removal (abatement);  - by improving early diagnosis, treatment, social and medical rehabilitation of asbestos-related diseases and by establishing registries of people with past and/or current exposures to asbestos.