Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Our medical research library holds 5 studies published in Bulletin of the World Health Organization (1973–2016). Each entry links to the study's record on PubMed and, where there is one, to the publisher's page and a free full text. 4 have an abstract, the authors' own summary as PubMed records it: open "Abstract" to read it. For 1 study PubMed has no abstract for, we give the abstract printed in the article or, where there is none, a summary we wrote from it, each labeled as such.

About the journal

• Publisher: World Health Organization
• Published: 1947 to the present, Switzerland
• Language: English, French
• ISSN: 0042-9686 (print), 1564-0604 (electronic)
• Continues: Interim Commission of the World Health Organization. Bulletin
• Absorbed: World Health Forum
• Absorbed: World Health Organization. World Health Statistics Quarterly
• Its record in the NLM Catalog

2010s

• Medical monitoring of asbestos-exposed workers: experience from Poland. B. Świątkowska, N. Szeszenia-Dąbrowska, U. Wilczyńska. 2016;94(8):599-604. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  In Poland, the use of asbestos was banned in 1997 and asbestos plants have been closed since then. Despite their closure, cases of asbestos-related occupational diseases among former asbestos workers are still being recorded in the Central Register of Occupational Diseases. Between 2001 and 2014, there were 2726 asbestos-related illnesses, classified and reported as diseases associated with occupational exposure to asbestos. In 2000, Poland introduced a programme called Amiantus, targeted at former asbestos-processing plant workers. The programme provided periodic medical examinations to workers and free access to medications for treatment of asbestos-related illnesses. Introduction of the programme provided additional data to generate a reliable estimation of the number of asbestos-related occupational diseases, including cancer. The average latency period for asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma is about 40 years so there may still be some health impact to former workers necessitating follow-up. We present the Polish experience of implementing a medical examination programme for asbestos-exposed workers and provide a list of activities to consider when planning for such a programme.

• The asbestos paradox: global gaps in the translational science of disease prevention. O.A. Ogunseitan. 2015;93(5):359-60. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Summary

  In this perspective article, the author asked what it would take to eradicate mesothelioma, a malignant cancer of the pleura described as almost exclusively associated with asbestos exposure. The author noted that asbestos was still used in automobile brake linings, in the chloralkali industry, in some plastics and in domestic building products, especially corrugated roofing in developing countries. Most mesothelioma cases were said to be found in asbestos-producing countries and in developing countries using asbestos products. The article reported that the International Labour Organization's Asbestos Convention, in force since 16 June 1989, had been formally ratified by only 35 of 184 eligible countries (19%). In contrast, 154 countries (83%) were Parties to the 1998 Rotterdam Convention. Attempts to list chrysotile asbestos in Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention had failed repeatedly, most recently at the sixth Conference of Parties in 2013, because of resistance from seven countries, most of which produce, use and export asbestos on a large scale. A figure showed asbestos production and consumption in selected countries in 2011. The author described three gaps in translating scientific evidence into prevention policy: making policy decisions amid scientific uncertainty; the role of alternatives assessments in selecting safer materials; and trade-offs between public health, industrial development, economic advancement, employment and political autonomy. The author concluded that mesothelioma could be eradicated, but that more work was needed to bridge the gaps between scientific knowledge and policy decisions.

  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.

• Asbestos: use, bans and disease burden in Europe. T. Kameda, K. Takahashi, R. Kim, et al. 2014;92(11):790-7. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Objective: To analyse national data on asbestos use and related diseases in the European Region of the World Health Organization (WHO).

  Methods: For each of the 53 countries, per capita asbestos use (kg/capita/year) and age-adjusted mortality rates (deaths/million persons/year) due to mesothelioma and asbestosis were calculated using the databases of the United States Geological Survey and WHO, respectively. Countries were further categorized by ban status: early-ban (ban adopted by 2000, n = 17), late-ban (ban adopted 2001-2013, n = 17), and no-ban (n = 19).

  Findings: Between 1920-2012, the highest per capita asbestos use was found in the no-ban group. After 2000, early-ban and late-ban groups reduced their asbestos use levels to less than or equal to 0.1 kg/capita/year, respectively, while the no-ban group maintained a very high use at 2.2 kg/capita/year. Between 1994 and 2010, the European Region registered 106,180 deaths from mesothelioma and asbestosis, accounting for 60% of such deaths worldwide. In the early-ban and late-ban groups, 16/17 and 15/17 countries, respectively, reported mesothelioma data to WHO, while only 6/19 countries in the no-ban group reported such data. The age-adjusted mortality rates for mesothelioma for the early-ban, late-ban and no-ban groups were 9.4, 3.7 and 3.2 deaths/million persons/year, respectively. Asbestosis rates for the groups were 0.8, 0.9 and 1.5 deaths/million persons/year, respectively.

  Conclusion: Within the European Region, the early-ban countries reported most of the current asbestos-related deaths. However, this might shift to the no-ban countries, since the disease burden will likely increase in these countries due the heavy use of asbestos.

• Global mesothelioma deaths reported to the World Health Organization between 1994 and 2008. V. Delgermaa, K. Takahashi, E.K. Park, et al. 2011;89(10):716-24, 724A-724C. PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

  Abstract

  Objective: To carry out a descriptive analysis of mesothelioma deaths reported worldwide between 1994 and 2008.

  Methods: We extracted data on mesothelioma deaths reported to the World Health Organization mortality database since 1994, when the disease was first recorded. We also sought information from other English-language sources. Crude and age-adjusted mortality rates were calculated and mortality trends were assessed from the annual percentage change in the age-adjusted mortality rate.

  Findings: In total, 92,253 mesothelioma deaths were reported by 83 countries. Crude and age-adjusted mortality rates were 6.2 and 4.9 per million population, respectively. The age-adjusted mortality rate increased by 5.37% per year and consequently more than doubled during the study period. The mean age at death was 70 years and the male-to-female ratio was 3.6:1. The disease distribution by anatomical site was: pleura, 41.3%; peritoneum, 4.5%; pericardium, 0.3%; and unspecified sites, 43.1%. The geographical distribution of deaths was skewed towards high-income countries: the United States of America reported the highest number, while over 50% of all deaths occurred in Europe. In contrast, less than 12% occurred in middle- and low-income countries. The overall trend in the age-adjusted mortality rate was increasing in Europe and Japan but decreasing in the United States.

  Conclusion: The number of mesothelioma deaths reported and the number of countries reporting deaths increased during the study period, probably due to better disease recognition and an increase in incidence. The different time trends observed between countries may be an early indication that the disease burden is slowly shifting towards those that have used asbestos more recently.

1970s

• Field tests of hexabutyldistannoxane (TBTO) in slow-release formulations against Biomphalaria spp. B. Gilbert, L.A. Paesleme, A.M. Ferreira, et al. 1973;49(6):633-6. PubMed · Free full text

  Abstract

  Hexabutyldistannoxane (TBTO) in an asphalt base was found to retain molluscicidal activity for more than a year in the field. It was not deactivated by immersion in mud or by drying and exposure to the sun. Complete elimination of planorbid snails was achieved and maintained when repopulation pressure was sporadic, but control of a continuously entering population was not practicable. Fixing the product at the site is important, and a formulation in fragments of rubber that floated failed after 1-2 months. TBTO apparently acts cumulatively in snails, but is only initially toxic to aquatic insects and fish, which return to repopulate treated areas that remain snail-free.

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