The World Health Organization (WHO) recently finalized a study that concluded that the costs of treating asbestos-related diseases are four times higher than the cost of producing asbestos materials. As a result, WHO has called for a global ban on the production of asbestos and its use.
This research was announced at a recent meeting of the Asia Pacific Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Brisbane, Australia, an area where the use of asbestos has significantly cost the population. Australia has one of the highest incidence of mesothelioma of any country and has completely banned the use of asbestos. However, many other countries, including the United States, still use asbestos in some applications, thus leading to the WHO’s call for a global ban.
One of the study’s authors, Dr. Ahmad Qureshi of Monash University in Malaysia, drew his conclusions from data from a number of sources, including the United States Geological Survey. He has stated that “[i]n 2003 they have told that about 2.11 million metric tons of asbestos was used, and the cost was about $2 billion roughly.” He went on to explain that “[t]o treat, and compensate people who get the disease – how much there’s a loss of income to them – including the cost of asbestos, the total is about $11.9 billion.”