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On August 24, 2010 the Council of Ministers of Mozambique approved a comprehensive ban on the production, use, import, export and trade in asbestos and asbestos containing products in order to protect human health and the environment. Infringement of the new law could incur heavy financial penalties. The announcement of the new legislation was made in Maputo by the deputy justice minister and cabinet spokesperson Alberto Nkutumula.

An editorial in the Medical Journal of Australia documents the support for a multilateral ban on asbestos. Robert Vojakovic, President of the Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia (ADSA), agrees that asbestos remains a serious threat. "Our Society has been dealing with the aftermath of hazardous exposures for over 30 years. Unfortunately, every week we are seeing people whose lives have been decimated by asbestos. The fact that asbestos use is expanding in many developing countries is scandalous. The ADSA supports efforts to ban asbestos worldwide."
See: Asbestos still poses a threat to global health and Declaration by Asbestos Summit, June 2010.

In recent weeks, a special report on asbestos broadcast on Mexican TV exploded many of industry's lies about the "safe use of asbestos." Segments of this report, which went out over a number of days, focused on the price paid by individuals, families and communities for the country's continuing use of asbestos. Contrasting the historical use of asbestos in countries where it is now banned, with the continuing use of asbestos in Mexico, the report highlighted the global consensus that asbestos should be banned to protect human health. See: Special Investigation - Asbestos, The Quiet Killer.

Plans by commercial interests in India to reopen asbestos mines were dashed by a decision announced on August 3, 2010 that the Government of Rajasthan, the location of the majority of India's asbestos deposits, would not lift a ban on asbestos mining leases. Although it is not unknown for asbestos mining operations to continue in the absence of a valid lease, this decision is a major victory for groups working in India to highlight the asbestos hazard and obtain justice for those who have been injured. See: Asbestos mining: Rajasthan withdraws plea to lift ban.

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An asbestos fact sheet recently released by the World Health Organization has increased the estimate of global asbestos-related deaths to 107,000 a year. These fatalities relate to only one class of victims, those whose exposure took place at work. "Currently," the fact sheet states "125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos at the workplace… One in every three deaths from occupational cancer is estimated to be caused by asbestos." The WHO states "the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related disease is to stop the use of all types of asbestos." See: WHO Asbestos Fact Sheet.

Trade unionists affiliated with the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI) will be holding a conference in Jakarta on August 2-4, 2010. The South East Asia Regional Conference on Asbestos will be addressed by international experts and regional activists including BWI personnel Fiona Murie and Apolinar Tolentino, trade unionist Deb Vallance from Australia and campaigners Sugio Furuya and Yeyong Choi, respectively from Japan and Korea. Issues such as the availability of asbestos-free substitutes, health surveillance and asbestos mapping will be discussed. For more information see Conference Agenda.

Today the results of an investigation into the asbestos industry were made public. Researchers from the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, India, Russia and China uncovered an international network of lobby groups which "has spent nearly $100 million since the mid-1980s to preserve the market for asbestos." Over the coming week, additional articles, radio programs and podcasts in the series: Dangers in the Dust - Inside the Global Asbestos Trade will be released.
For more information see: Dangers in the Dust; Exporting an Epidemic: The Asbestos Industry Goes Global; Key Archival Documents.

Representatives of Ban Asbestos Korea and the Asian Ban Asbestos Network raised the issue of asbestos with representatives of international agencies and national governments participating in the Second Ministerial Regional Forum on Environment and Health in Southeast and East Asian Countries which took place on July 14 & 15, 2010 in Jeju, Korea. The ban asbestos campaigners highlighted issues such as Canadian financing of a new asbestos mine in Quebec and the rising tide of asbestos exports to Asia. For more information, see the ECO Health bulletin circulated at this meeting.

As a result of deliberations undertaken during the 2nd Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which was held in Vancouver, Canada last month, a resolution was endorsed which highlighted the deadly effects of occupational asbestos exposures. Calling for a global ban on asbestos and other hazardous substances, the text appealed to the Canadian government "to join a total world ban on asbestos," and urged the ITUC, regional organizations and Global Unions to coordinate efforts to achieve the prohibitions needed to safeguard human rights and social justice.

A video uploaded this month provides the opportunity for Asian experts and campaigners to highlight the export of hazardous asbestos technology to developing countries. Although the Malaysian Government has previously stated that a comprehensive national ban would be implemented by 2015, observers are now questioning the government's intention to honor this commitment. Comments by Dr. K. G. Rampal, Sanjiv Pandita, G. Rajasekaran and Apolinar Tolentino Jr. focus on the hazards posed by all types of asbestos and the urgent need for a total ban to be implemented. See: Asbestos: A Silent Killer video.

A letter was sent on June 9 to Quebec's Minister of Health by 35 medical doctors from 19 countries in North, Central and South America, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Australia. The physicians charge that Dr. Yves Bolduc is "failing in his duty to protect public health." By supporting Quebec's political agenda on asbestos, he has, so the letter alleges, failed to fulfill obligations stipulated in Quebec's Medical Code of Ethics including requirements to: "not allow false or incomplete information to be given to the public.(s91)." See: June 9 letter to Yves Bolduc.

News that financial resources for a struggling asbestos mine in Quebec might be forthcoming from investors in India and the UK was reported at the end of August by the Canadian media. This possibility, which is an anathema to asbestos victim support groups in both countries, led to widespread condemnation from groups representing civil society around the world. In a press statement issued on September 1, 2010, ban asbestos campaigners from India and the UK warned that concerted action would be taken against companies that invest in this deadly industry. [article]

Unionists affiliated with the Building and Woodworkers International held a conference on asbestos in Indonesia in August 2010. The South East Asia Regional Conference on Asbestos provided opportunities for in-depth discussions on ways to progress the ban asbestos agenda in Asia. At the conclusion of the conference, a statement calling on Canada to end the mining and export of chrysotile asbestos and condemning plans by the Quebec Government for a multimillion dollar loan to industry stakeholders was adopted. Conference organizer Apolinar Tolentino Jr. said that the meeting marked a significant step forward in Asia's fight-back against asbestos. [article]

A campaign by people living in a working class area of Mexico City has propelled the Mexican asbestos scandal onto the national agenda. People in Iztapalapa, who have been plagued by noxious smells and yellow dust emanating from a local asbestos-brake linings factory, have finally attracted the attention of the media, politicians and other groups representing civil society. Pollution by the American Roll factory is, they say, responsible for 10 cancer deaths of local people. Community activists are calling for the factory to be shut down on grounds of public health. [article]

This Summer, a Spanish court issued a landmark decision which, for the first time, compensated victims whose exposure to asbestos took place environmentally. The 45 claimants lived in the Barcelona suburb where an asbestos-cement factory owned by Uralita, a multinational construction materials company, was located. Uralita, which is appealing the decision, was ordered to pay a total of 3.9 million euros ($4.9 m) by the Madrid Court for "damage to the lungs, leading in some cases to death," to the injured or surviving family members. [article]

Despite the European Union's asbestos ban, contaminated materials in national infrastructures continue to endanger the lives of Europeans. The European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) has delineated plans to make Europe asbestos-free by 2023 in presentations to the European Parliament and labor gatherings, in published material and in ongoing consultations with trade unions. Having designated the asbestos hazard as a priority issue, the EFBWW is working with social partners on the development of practical plans for implementing its campaign; information is available in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Danish, German and Finnish. [article]

Since the English language version of Killing the Future - Asbestos Use in Asia was published, the text has been translated into Japanese, Chinese and Bengali. In June 2010, the Farsi version was released in Tehran. The text, which was translated by Drs. Ramin Mehrdad and Omid Kheirkhah, is being circulated amongst the medical community and academics at the University of Medical Sciences and will shortly be uploaded to the web. Dr. Mehrdad hopes that this monograph will be pivotal in raising awareness of the asbestos hazard in Iran. [article]

An astonishing series of newspaper and website articles, podcasts, documentaries, radio programs, commentaries and blogs were rolled out in July under the banner: Dangers in the Dust – Inside the Global Asbestos Trade. Research conducted in 2009-2010 in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India, Russia and China revealed a multi-million dollar conspiracy by global asbestos stakeholders designed to encourage sales of hazardous chrysotile asbestos to developing countries. The content, tone and number of pieces generated by this investigation was described by one Canadian journalist as a "public-relations tsunami" for the asbestos industry. [article]

For more than two years, a local non-governmental organization has been investigating asbestos issues in Gujarat. In 2009-2010, the Peoples Training And Research Centre has conducted an asbestos outreach program to raise awareness of the hazard amongst various sectors of civil society. The latest meetings in Gujarat, attended by academics, students and medical professionals, took place on Saturday July 17, 2010 in Bhavnagar the nearest big city to the infamous Alang ship-breaking yard. A photographic exhibition on display at the workshop venue graphically illustrated the various facets of India's asbestos challenge. [article]

Canada's National Day - July 1, 2010 - was marked by high-profile activities in Ottawa and London. As day-long celebrations took place in Trafalgar Square, UK protestors mounted a demonstration across the street. Organized by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat and several trade unions, the demonstration attracted support from key stakeholders such as the Forum of Asbestos Victims' Support Groups and the London Hazards Centre. The protest took place against growing domestic and foreign opposition to plans by the Quebec government to loan $58 million to develop new underground asbestos operations at the Jeffrey Mine. [article]

Developments in June 2010 evidenced increasing opposition by civil society to the continued use of asbestos. On June 9, 2010 Health Ministers from Mercosur, the Southern Common Market, signed a declaration urging member states to ban asbestos. On June 11, a seminar on asbestos was held in Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, to highlight the impact of increasing asbestos production and consumption in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia. At the end of the month, the Canadian Cancer Society publicly reiterated its support for a Canadian ban and the ending of asbestos mining operations in Quebec. [article]

The Government of Quebec has announced plans to provide a $58 million loan to finance the completion of work on underground facilities at the Jeffrey Chrysotile Mine. Accessible asbestos deposits at Quebec's two remaining asbestos mines, both of which are operating under bankruptcy protection, are nearly exhausted. Should these plans proceed, Canada will be capable of producing 200,000 tonnes of asbestos annually, virtually all of which will be shipped abroad. Critic Kathleen Ruff questions "how two supposedly business-minded political leaders are risking public funds … to resuscitate an industry that is notorious for its record of economic disaster…" [article]

Despite the implementation of an Australian ban on all types of asbestos and asbestos products which was adopted in 2003, a steady flow of contaminated products into the country continues to pose an ongoing threat to workers. Recent incidents in Western Australia document the import of asbestos-containing gaskets from China and Thailand by major corporations such as Alcoa World Alumina and Woodside, an oil and gas exploration company. As a result of the incidents documented in this article, it is possible that hundreds of factory, maritime and dockside workers were exposed to asbestos. [article]

On June 1, 2010, the Japanese Government appealed against a historic judgment by the Osaka District Court which held the national authorities liable for asbestos-related diseases contracted by former workers. Considering the huge repercussions of this judgment, it was always likely the Government would mount a challenge. Announcing the Government's decision to appeal, the Minister for National Policy Yoshito Sengoku referred to numerous points of contention in the decision and the fact that claimants, who had already received payouts under the labor accident compensation insurance scheme, should not be awarded additional payments. [article]

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first appearance of the British Asbestos Newsletter. Over the past two decades the newsletter has performed an invaluable role in documenting legal and medical developments in the campaign against asbestos hazards and ensuring that knowledge is disseminated both here and abroad. The Twentieth Anniversary Edition, which includes a wide range of contributions from voluntary sector campaigners, MPs, lawyers, medical professionals, trade unionists and historians, highlights how the existence of separate legal jurisdictions in Great Britain has resulted in differing outcomes for victims. [article]

Asbestos was on the agenda of the 18th session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development which took place in early May 2010. A well-attended side event, organized by Women in Europe for a Common Future, examined the asbestos hazard in the context of European and Asian countries still producing and using asbestos. Speakers from Kazakhstan and Indonesia detailed a worrying situation in which there are no regulations on the use or dumping of asbestos and no attempt to quantify the occupational or environmental impact hazardous exposures are having on the population. [article]

Developments which unfolded in mid-May revealed the growing antipathy to the continued export of Canadian asbestos. On Wednesday, May 12, 2010, a series of high profile ban asbestos events in Ottawa generated mass participation and considerable media coverage. On May 13, the World Health Organization launched a new document which highlighted the urgent need to phase out asbestos use, and on May 14, community activists in Mexico City protested the risk to local people of environmental asbestos pollution generated by an American-owned factory. All in all, not a good week for asbestos stakeholders and lobbyists. [article]

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Demonstration in Woluwe Park, Brussels, 2006

Under cloudy skies, members of Belgian and French Asbestos Victims' Associations from Dunkirk and Bourgogne marched side-by-side in the third annual demonstration organized by ABEVA, the Belgian Association of Asbestos Victims. Erik Jonckheere, ABEVA's Co-chairman, condemned the government which still refuses to recognize the plight of the asbestos injured.

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