Asbestos-related diseases: time for technology sharing

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos-related diseases: time for technology sharing, by K. Takahashi, Asian Asbestos Initiative (Occupational Medicine, 2008).

The study

• Authors: K. Takahashi, Asian Asbestos Initiative
• Journal: Occupational Medicine
• Published: 2008;58(6):384-5
• Type of article: Editorial
• Cited by: 9 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Summary of the article

In this editorial, written on behalf of the Asian Asbestos Initiative (AAI), the author argued that countries experienced with asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) should share preventive technologies with Asian countries that still use asbestos. Using the Virta database, the author calculated that Asia's share of global raw asbestos use rose from 19% (840 of 4350 thousand metric tons) in 1985 to 47% (950 of 2040 thousand metric tons) in 2000, making Asia the world's centre for asbestos consumption. According to the WHO mortality database, mesothelioma accounted for 46 476 deaths in 62 countries between 1994 and 2004, of which 8258 (17.8%) occurred in four Asian countries. The author attributed the relatively low Asian burden to insufficient latency time and inadequate recognition of ARDs. He also noted continuing second-hand handling of asbestos in machinery repair, maintenance, demolition and shipwrecking. Japan, described as being in the midst of an ARD epidemic, was presented together with Singapore and Korea as able to lead technology sharing with asbestos-dependent countries such as Vietnam, China and Thailand. The AAI aimed to build an academic platform for sharing technologies across primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, ranging from substitution and exposure measurement to diagnosis, treatment and compensation. The author concluded that discontinuing asbestos use was the most effective means of prevention and that the time was ripe for technology sharing.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This article was an editorial, not a research study, written by the author on behalf of the Asian Asbestos Initiative (AAI). The author argued that Asia had become the world's centre for asbestos consumption. Using a United States Geological Survey database, the author calculated that Asia's share of world raw asbestos use rose from 19% (840 of 4350 thousand metric tons) in 1985 to 47% (950 of 2040 thousand metric tons) in 2000. Citing the World Health Organization mortality database, the author reported 46 476 mesothelioma deaths in 62 countries between 1994 and 2004. Of these, 8258 (17.8%) occurred in four Asian countries. The author suggested that the lower burden in Asia probably reflected insufficient latency time and inadequate recognition of asbestos-related diseases. The author described Japan as being in the midst of an epidemic of these diseases. The author proposed that Japan, Singapore and Korea share prevention, diagnosis, treatment and compensation technologies with countries still dependent on asbestos, such as Vietnam, China and Thailand. The author concluded that the time was ripe for technology sharing.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: editorial (opinion article, not a research study)
• Who was studied: Asian countries, discussed using world asbestos consumption figures and WHO mesothelioma mortality data; no study subjects
• Exposure: continued use of asbestos in Asia, including second-hand handling in machinery repair, maintenance, demolition and shipwrecking
• Main results:
  • By the author's calculation from the Virta (USGS) database, Asia's share of global raw asbestos use rose from 19% (840 of 4350 thousand metric tons) in 1985 to 47% (950 of 2040 thousand metric tons) in 2000
  • According to the WHO mortality database, mesothelioma contributed to 46 476 deaths in 62 countries between 1994 and 2004
  • Of those deaths, 8258 (17.8%) occurred in four (6.5% of the 62) Asian countries
  • The author suggested the relatively low disease burden in Asia probably reflects insufficient latency time and inadequate recognition of asbestos-related diseases
  • The author described Japan as being in an epidemic of asbestos-related diseases
  • The AAI aims to build an academic platform for researchers and administrators in different countries to share core technologies; its proponents agree that stopping asbestos use is the most effective prevention, reached through a gradual transition
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the time was ripe for technology sharing among countries to eliminate asbestos-related diseases.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Latency.

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