Posted on September 10, 2017
I’ve just returned from an incredibly enriching trip to Singapore for the United Nations’ XXI World Congress on Safety and Health. It was both an honor and an education to take part in this important symposium, where I was proud to share updates from the American fight to ban asbestos.
Nearly 3,500 delegates representing 100 countries attended the conference. One thing I learned during the presentations highlights the importance of global conversations such as this: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that “2.78 million workers, with an estimated Gross Domestic Product of 2.99 trillion dollars die every year from work related illness and injuries across the globe.” And, as we know, asbestos plays a huge role in that sobering statistic.
“The biggest individual occupational cancer causing substance globally is asbestos, killing some 237,000 workers each year,” said Dr. Jukka Takala, president of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH). “The problem is man-made and can be totally eliminated. The only way to stop the deaths and disease is to completely ban the production and use of asbestos.”
I presented in the session “Prevention of Occupational Cancer,” alongside Dr. Takala and other renowned colleagues, including Dr. Ken Takahashi, Professor Jorma Rantanen, Professor Sergio Iavicoli, and Michael Borowick. During our session, Dr. Takala, and Professors Iavicoli and Rantanen presented their new “Estimation of the global burden of mesothelioma deaths from incomplete national mortality data” study.
It wasn’t all sound science and solidarity, though. Unsurprisingly, chrysotile asbestos profiteers were out in full force attempting to protect mining and use. They’re still relying on the same old propaganda that chrysotile is different than other types of asbestos and safe to use (but for the record, it’s not, per a strong consensus of international research bodies including the World Health Organization and International Agency for Cancer Research).
Emiliano Alonso and Dmitrii Selianin
For the third time, Russian delegate Dmitrii Selianin, of the “International Alliance of Trade Union Organizations – Chrysotile” attended my session, taking plenty of notes and photographs of my presentation. During the session “Role and contributions of trade unions towards OSH,” Mr. Selianin was joined by Mr. Emiliano Alonso who was representing the International Chrysotile Association. While we’re quite used to Russia fighting for the protected use of deadly asbestos, it was surprising to see someone from a European country joining in the fold, as asbestos is banned in the EU as a whole.
Despite this scurrilous presence of propagandists, many high-level speakers acknowledged asbestos as a key problem plaguing occupational health and safety. The ability to network and strategize with these important international allies was invaluable, and I know their support will help us achieve our ban in America.
My gratitude to the organizers of the symposium, and to the other brilliant speakers I had the honor of learning from. Together, we will make workplaces around the world safer for the generations to come.
Together, we make change happen.
Linda