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Press Release Date: 28 March, 2017
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) Launches the 13th Annual “Global Asbestos Awareness Week” April 1-7, 2017
This year’s campaign for a global asbestos ban will translate across six different languages, spreading the message to a wide international audience.
Washington DC, USA — March 28, 2017 — The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), an independent nonprofit dedicated to preventing asbestos exposure, today announced the launch of the 13th Annual Global Asbestos Awareness Week (GAAW) April 1-7, 2017.
Asbestos is a known carcinogen and there is no safe level of exposure. Since the 19th century, asbestos was widely used in construction, shipbuilding, and the automotive industry. Without a ban, asbestos remains legal and lethal in the USA and in an estimated 70% of countries around the world. This year we’re proud to offer educational materials translated into six different languages for international distribution, thanks to help from The McOnie Agency.
Global Asbestos Awareness Week is dedicated to awareness and prevention, with each day featuring educational resources from leading organizations, guest blogs, videos, and asbestos victims’ stories. The week culminates on April 7th with an online candlelight vigil. We are excited to bring our educational messages to an even wider global audience by collaborating with The McOnie Agency, a U.K. based public relations firm. By partnering with the McOnie Agency, our 2016 GAAW educational materials reached an international audience and this year, we aim to expand upon this awareness.
Building on strength and collaboration, this year’s Global Asbestos Awareness Week will focus on:
- Banning the mining, manufacturing, and use of asbestos
- Preventing asbestos exposure
- Increasing compliance and enforcement of existing laws and regulations
- Strengthening international partnerships
“It is exciting to see the global embrace and collaboration for Global Asbestos Awareness Week,” stated ADAO Co-founder and President Linda Reinstein. “Since the awareness campaign began over a decade ago, ADAO, along with our partners, has dedicated over 70 days specifically to asbestos awareness. Each day, an estimated 500 people die from asbestos-caused diseases. It is unconscionable that Russia, China, Brazil, and Kazakhstan continue to mine 2 million metric tons of asbestos every year to be used primarily in asbestos-cement products. Even worse — the U.S. and other industrialized countries continue to import asbestos, bringing danger across our borders and contributing to international human rights violations. Millions of tons of asbestos remain in homes, schools, and workplaces. ADAO joins the global community in calling for a ban in the United States and around the world. Enough is enough.”
Since its founding in 2004, ADAO has worked with the U.S. Senate to unanimously pass twelve Asbestos Awareness Week Resolutions and secured five U.S. Surgeon General asbestos warnings in an effort to prevent exposure to eliminate deadly asbestos-caused diseases.
Exposure to asbestos, a human carcinogen, can cause mesothelioma, lung, gastrointestinal, colorectal, laryngeal, and ovarian cancers; as well as non-malignant lung and pleural disorders.The Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study of 2013 published in the renowned Lancet Medical Journal reported that 194,000 people globally die from asbestos-caused diseases every year, equaling more than 500 deaths per day.
For more information, visit www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org.
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About the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) was founded by asbestos victims and their families in 2004. ADAO is the largest non-profit in the U.S. dedicated to providing asbestos victims and concerned citizens with a united voice through our education, advocacy, and community initiatives. ADAO seeks to raise public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure, advocate for an asbestos ban, and protect asbestos victims’ civil rights.
Media Contact:
Sara Tiano
Media Relations
(310) 251-7477
Sara@asbestosdiseaseawareness.org