After reading and signing the letter to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe being circulated by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) and others, I was reminded of an effort to boycott imported asbestos in 1974. This involved picketing and publicizing the import of products from Rhodesia (Zimbabwe’s former name under white minority rule) through ports such as Boston, New Orleans, Baltimore and San Francisco. We organized the picket line and press conference in Boston in March, 1974 to draw attention to the health hazards of asbestos and the denial of basic human rights to the majority African population by the racist Ian Smith government.  Read more: March 14, 1974 report and newspaper articles

Now, almost forty years later, the oppressive Zimbabwean government led by Robert Mugabe is proposing to resume mining this same dangerous product, in parallel with a similar effort in Canada. Kudos to the ADAO and the public health community for continuing to oppose these backward steps and pressing for a worldwide ban of asbestos.

Richard Clapp,D.Sc., MPH
Adjunct Professor
Univ. of Massachusetts – Lowell
Lowell, MA

View the international joint letter in opposition of the Zimbabwean government re: their announcement to craft a revival plan for asbestos mines.