June 14, 2017: The World Health Organization released the English version of its Asbestos Fact Sheet 4 at the 6th Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health (E&H) in Ostrava, Czech Republic; a Russian version is due out shortly with other translations to follow. The choice of venue to launch this new resource was appropriate as more »
Category Archive: ActionAlerts
May 08 2017
Rotterdam Convention: No progress on democratic right to be protected from hazardous substances
May 7, 2017: The 8th Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (COP8) ended on May 5, 2017. It will be two years before the next conference takes place in 2019. Ever since the Convention came into beginning, the asbestos industry has refused to allow chrysotile asbestos to be put on the Convention’s list more »
May 04 2017
Asbestos harms the health of millions of Indian workers
Story by Jagdish Patel, national coordinator of the Occupational & Environmental Health Network, India: https://scroll.in/pulse/ 836377/asbestos-harms-the- health-of-millions-of-indian- workers-will-the-government- finally-move-to-ban-it
May 03 2017
Asian Delegation at COP 8 – Media Event Updates
May 2, 2017: The Asian delegation at COP8 is made up of grassroots organisations from India- Occupational Health Environment Network of India (OHENI), Indonesia -Local Initiative on OSH (LION), Vietnam Ban Asbestos Network (VN BAN), Vietnam. The delegation is supported by – Asian Ban Asbestos Network (ABAN), Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC), Union Aid Abroad more »
May 01 2017
Asbestos – out of sight but not out of mind in Asia
By Melody Kemp May 1, 2017: Asbestos resembles polio. Just when you think it’s beaten, it returns like some ghoul. If you think this is overly dramatic, last year Laos was struck by a polio outbreak. This year we learned that Laos now ranks amongst the globe’s major importers of asbestos. And it’s driven by cynical market forces targeting more »
Apr 28 2017
Chrysotile asbestos—a call for action on this hazardous substance
By Kathleen Ruff April 27, 2017: Chrysotile asbestos comprises 95% of all asbestos sold during the past century and for the past 30 years has represented the totality of the global asbestos trade.[1] The scientific consensus is clear that all forms of asbestos are harmful and should be banned.[2, 3, 4, 5] In light of clear evidence linking asbestos more »
Apr 26 2017
Daily report on Basel, Rotterdam & Stockholm COPs
The Earth Negotiations Bulletin is published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development – Reporting Services Division (IISD-RS). It is now providing a daily report of what is happening at the Basel, Rotterdam & Stockholm COPs. If you go to their website - http://enb.iisd.org/chemical/cops/2017/ - you will see photos taken each day at the COPs and at the top, more »
Sep 14 2016
Rajasthan rights panel raps NIOH, Ahmedabad
JAIPUR: Rajasthan Human Rights Commission took to task the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) Ahmedabad for negligence in following up on cases of suspected asbestosis. This is a lung disease that afflicts those with long exposure to asbestos. The fibres of asbestos, which for long was used as a roofing material, can aggravate lung more »
Sep 14 2016
Govt approves controlling use and import of asbestos from 2018
Sep 08, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved controlling the use and import of asbestos from January 2018 by adopting more beneficial substitutes and to prepare a operational programme to prohibit asbestos related production by 2024. “Since 1987 importation of blue asbestos (Crocidolite) has been prohibited as it was identified as a carcinogen more »
Aug 27 2016
Five years after mine closure, Asbestos, Que., seeking new identity
ASBESTOS, Que. – To residents of Asbestos, Que., the once-mighty Jeffrey mine that gave the town its identity is known simply as “the hole.” But almost five years after Canada’s largest asbestos mine stopped producing the controversial fibre, Asbestos is looking to move on from the industry that supported it for more than a century. more »