Mesothelioma-Causing Asbestos: Canadian Doctors vs. the Canadian Government
The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is standing in unity against the Canadian government and its stance on the continued mining and export of asbestos. Earlier this summer the Canadian representatives to the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention blocked inclusion of chrysotile asbestos on the list of hazardous substances around the world. The CMA has called the government “shameful” and a “disgrace” for their failure to recognize the health hazards associated with asbestos including mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and other respiratory diseases.
Mesothelioma, a rare asbestos-related cancer, is one of many cancers that are most often diagnosed at a late stage, making a cure almost impossible. Often called “asbestos cancer,” mesothelioma is highly aggressive and is resistant to many standard cancer treatments. Currently there is no known cure for the disease, and the average survival time varies from 4 – 18 months after diagnosis.
Canada has strict regulations on domestic use of chrysotile asbestos, but is the world’s fifth largest exporter of the cancer-causing material which is still produced in two mines in Quebec. Much of the exported mineral fiber goes to developing countries with weak or non-existent workplace safety laws that continue to contribute to the growing global mesothelioma burden by failing to admit to the mesothelioma-causing properties of the mineral.
“This is an important health care issue and a product that causes significant illness — even death,” said Dr. Jeff Turnbull, outgoing president of the CMA. He added, “Canada should not be in the business of exporting such a dangerous product.”
“Canada’s physicians must now go further and express outright opposition to the government’s stance,” added Dr. Barry Turchen of Abbotsford, B.C.
The Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Public Health Association, public health researchers as well as the medical community have long condemned the Canadian government for putting their economic incentives ahead of health issues by continuing to support asbestos mining. Canadian officials recently approved a $58 million loan guarantee that will support an expansion of the Jeffrey asbestos mine in Asbestos, Canada.
In the United States, 2,500 to 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. Environmentalists, health-care workers and even the legal community continue to call for a worldwide ban of asbestos. Most recently, a Wisconsin professor reported, “We could prevent a million or more cases of cancer,” if there was a worldwide ban placed on the carcinogen.
New York mesothelioma lawyer Joseph W. Belluck added that a worldwide ban is “the only sure way to stop the suffering and deaths caused by mesothelioma and asbestos-related disease.”
Sources:
The Rotterdam Convention
Tories’ Asbestos Policy
The Vancouver Sun
