Posted on January 19, 2014 
Congratulations and thank you to Mavis and Ray Nye for courageously speaking up and out about asbestos and the United Kingdom mesothelioma bill during the BBC 1 Sunday Politics program. During the BBC 1 Sunday Politics interview, Ray shared his feelings of guilt about Mavis’s suffering from mesothelioma as a result of her washing Ray’s asbestos-contaminated clothing after working in the shipyard. Mavis was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos caused cancer, in 2009 and continues to be one of the strongest voices for a global asbestos ban and the need to fund research for a cure. Mavis was awarded the 2013 ADAO Alan Reinstein Award for her commitment to education, advocacy, and support to countless patients and families.
MP Tracey Crouch and her colleagues worked hard in Parliament to strengthen the Mesothelioma bill for suffers – but the amendments were defeated by 39 votes.
The UK completely banned asbestos in 1999. Horrifically, however, exposure continues. Asbestos was widely used in schools throughout the United Kingdom As reported by the Cancer Research UK:
- In 2010 2,543 people in the UK were diagnosed with mesothelioma.
- In 2011, there were 2,310 deaths from mesothelioma in the UK.
As Mavis shared, “I have asked what will happen to people like me that are secondary as nothing is being said about people like me.” Mavis and Ray feel strongly about compensation too. Mavis shared, “I have said that the Mesothelioma Bill is going through and we can’t stop it. We need 100% compensation as you get when you know the firm involved and can take a claim to court. That would be nice, but would never have been agreed. The 80% amendment failed. That’s when we learnt a deal had already been done with the insurance companies before it ever went to the Houses of Parliament. They only agreed to the scheme if it was 75%.” While some of the interview was cut due to time, Mavis shares, “I also talked about the fact that we need government backing on research and talked about the problem of there were no trials available for me now and I’m looking for 5th line. There was a chat about our personal life and my failing body and my pain management, Facebook and Debbie Brewer, Independent Asbestos Training Providers (IATP) and how the industry listened to me, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) and how Linda fights so hard to have asbestos banned in the US and around the world. I talked about the British Lung Foundation (BLF) “Take 5 and Stay Alive” campaign, I became their voice in a video and for the first and only time I became Centerfold— in their Annual report.”
During the past ten years, as a mesothelioma widow, I too have witnessed the horrific public health crisis caused from asbestos. The World Health Organization states “more than 107 000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from occupational exposure” and mining continues. The USA has not banned asbestos and we continue to import this deadly chemical to meet so-called “manufacturers needs.” It’s time to stop mining, exporting, and importing deadly asbestos. It is a fact, asbestos kills!
Mavis and Ray, thank you for being a bold voice for change and action!
To read more about Mavis’s journey, follow her inspirational blog, Mavis’s Fight with Mesothelioma.
Together, change is possible.
Linda