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Asian Asbestos Conference 2009 (AAC): Strengthening the Grassroots Asbestos Movement in Asia
April 26-28, Hong Kong


Introduction and Background

“….asbestos cancer epidemic may take 10 million lives worldwide before its probable global ban”
- Joseph LaDou from the University of California

“Asbestos is the most important single factor causing death and disability at work, some 100,000 fatalities a year”

“…every 170 tons of asbestos is responsible for one mesothelioma - a fatal cancer of the linings of the lungs - and for two lung cancers.”
- Dr. Jukka Takala, former director of ILO’s SafeWork programme


It is not only unfortunate but gravely tragic to talk about the issue of asbestos in the year 2009. A majority of countries in west have either banned it or reduced its use to bare minimum owing to the unprecedented death and destruction that this previously believed ‘miracle mineral’ has caused.  The most logical step that rest of the countries could have taken was to simply ban this hazardous and dangerous substance that has killed and diseased thousands of workers and community members globally, continues to kill today and will kill for many more years even in countries that have completely stopped its use.

On the contrary developing countries have been selectively targeted as an emerging market by the asbestos manufacturers and exporters. Asia has also emerged as one of the largest market for the asbestos consumption with China and India as two biggest consumers. Besides, Asia is also a major hub for ship breaking with places like Alang and Chittagong famous for its ship-breaking industry – where ships packed with deadly asbestos are torn apart by migrant workers (with no protective equipments) who have no clue about the toxic environment they are working in.

Missing Victims

Even though large quantities of asbestos are being used in many Asian countries, yet the cases of asbestos related diseases are hardly surfacing. Persistent use of asbestos in Asia also epitomises the state of health and safety here, where profits attain priority to the lives of workers. It also shows the grave problems of diagnosis in these countries. Very few doctors can correctly diagnose occupational lung diseases like silicosis and asbestosis, and they are routinely diagnosed or mis-diagnosed as Tuberculosis, to diagnose Mesothelioma would seem out of question. The invisibility of asbestos victims in this region can be attributed to this reason where thousands of exposed workers might be dying quietly in their homes without proper diagnosis. Lack of proper diagnosis is also key factor responsible for no or very few compensation cases on asbestos related sickness in the region.

Misinformation Campaign

Both International Labour Organisation and the World Health Organisation have clearly stated that all form of asbestos are dangerous for human health and have advocated a complete ban on all forms of asbestos. However, the asbestos manufacturing lobby that in the past was led by the Chrysotile Institute from Canada and now also aggressively promoted by Chrysotile Association led by Russian manufactures, has been active in promoting the ‘white asbestos' as a safe and cheap material when used under "controlled conditions". Controlled conditions were difficult to achieve in the West and it will be ambitious to think that such conditions exist in Asia. The asbestos lobby led by the Canadian Chrysotile Institute has been feeding lies and myths to promote the white asbestos and our governments in the region have been falling prey to such campaign which is exposing hundreds of thousands of workers and community people to this known hazardous and carcinogenic substance.

Strengthening the Grassroots Asbestos Movement in Asia

The only way forward is a complete ban on all forms of asbestos in Asia. However to achieve a complete ban grassroots mobilisation is important along with identifying and empowering victims. In Asia, Japan is the only country that has effectively been able to achieve a ban. However, it took a 20 year long relentless struggle by Ban Asbestos Japan Network (BANJAN) to achieve this and also led to the formation of victims' organisation in the process that provided more impetus to the struggle. However, grassroots mobilisation and strengthening all over Asia is the key towards achieving a success in terms of complete ban on all forms of asbestos.

Objectives

Experience has shown that the participation of delegates from a cross-section of disciplines, groups and nations will maximize the effectiveness of the conference. The mission statement of the AAC 2009 is: "to have a gathering of grassroots activists, academics, medical and legal experts in Asia to develop concrete strategies towards a complete ban of asbestos in Asia."

Specific aims of the AAC 2009 include:

• in China: to reach out to grass-roots' groups and campaigners, to give these individuals the opportunity to communicate their experiences on asbestos to a wider audience, to improve links amongst groups so that future actions can be coordinated.

• in Asia: to build on the work of the GAC 2004¹ and AAC 2006 to raise awareness of asbestos issues within civil society; to identify individuals working on asbestos or related issues; to identify effective strategies for dealing with national asbestos problems; to disseminate information which can be used to improve national asbestos health and safety legislation; to officially launch the Ban Asbestos Network of Asia.

• globally: to hasten the day when a worldwide ban on asbestos protects future generations from the horrors of death by asbestos poisoning.

3. Organisers

1 GAC 2004 and AAC 2006: the Global Asbestos Congress 2004 was held in Tokyo and the Asian Asbestos Conference 2006 was held in Bangkok.