Development of the “National Asbestos Profile” to Eliminate Asbestos-Related Diseases in 195 Countries

Diana Arachi, Sugio Furuya, Annette David, Alexander Mangwiro, Odgerel Chimed-Ochir, Kenneth Lee, Peter Tighe, Jukka Takala, Tim Driscoll and Ken Takahashi
Additional contact information
Diana Arachi: Asbestos Diseases Research Institute, Concord, NSW 2139, Australia
Sugio Furuya: Japan Occupational Safety and Health Research Center, Tokyo 204-0024, Japan
Annette David: Health Partners LLC, Tamuning 96913, Guam
Alexander Mangwiro: Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, United Nations Environment Program, 1219 Geneva, Switzerland
Odgerel Chimed-Ochir: Asbestos Diseases Research Institute, Concord, NSW 2139, Australia
Kenneth Lee: Asbestos Diseases Research Institute, Concord, NSW 2139, Australia
Peter Tighe: Asbestos Diseases Research Foundation, Concord, NSW 2139, Australia
Jukka Takala: International Commission on Occupational Health, 20122 Milan, Italy
Tim Driscoll: School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Ken Takahashi: Asbestos Diseases Research Institute, Concord, NSW 2139, Australia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: Worldwide, 230,000+ people die annually from asbestos-related diseases (ARDs). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that countries develop a National Asbestos Profile (NAP) to eliminate ARDs. For 195 countries, we assessed the global status of NAPs (A: bona fide NAP, B: proxy NAP, C: relevant published information, D: no relevant information) by national income (HI: high, UMI: upper-middle, LMI: lower-middle, LI: low), asbestos bans (banned, no-ban) and public data availability. Fourteen (7% of 195) countries were category A (having a bona fide NAP), while 98, 51 and 32 countries were categories B, C and D, respectively. Of the 14 category-A countries, 8, 3 and 3 were LMI, UMI and HI, respectively. Development of a bona fide NAP showed no gradient by national income. The proportions of countries having a bona fide NAP were similar between asbestos-banned and no-ban countries. Public databases useful for developing NAPs contained data for most countries. Irrespective of the status of national income or asbestos ban, most countries have not developed a NAP despite having the potential. The global status of NAP is suboptimal. Country-level data on asbestos and ARDs in public databases can be better utilized to develop NAPs for globally eliminating ARDs.

Keywords: asbestos; policy; World Health Organization; International Labor Organization; National Asbestos Profile; prevention; mesothelioma (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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