Bolton South East MP, Brian Iddon Takes Action Against Mesothelioma
28th February 2008
Bolton South East MP, Brian Iddon, joined the British Lung Foundation (BLF) and others at the House of Commons on Wednesday 27th February to raise awareness of the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma and to support the BLF’s campaign to ensure everyone in the UK is ‘asbestos aware’.
To mark Action Mesothelioma Day the British Lung Foundation is monitoring the progress of the Mesothelioma Framework, an NHS action plan for people with the disease. The charity carried out a survey of cancer networks in England and presented its findings to the National Cancer Director Professor Mike Richards at Wednesday’s reception at Westminster.
Dr Iddon said:
“I am delighted to be supporting the British Lung Foundation’s Action Mesothelioma Campaign, as it is helping to bring about real improvements for people with this cruel disease and continues to work for more research into the disease and more awareness about the dangers of asbestos. The British Lung Foundation’s survey shows that there is a dangerously low level of awareness about the dangers of asbestos amongst the very people who are most at risk of mesothelioma.”
Mesothelioma kills one person every five hours in the UK and there is as yet no cure. It takes between 15 and 60 years after exposure to asbestos for the symptoms of mesothelioma to become apparent and the UK will face an epidemic of the cancer in 2011 - 2015 as people exposed to asbestos in the 1960s and 1970s are diagnosed with the disease. Recent cases show that tradespeople such as builders, plumbers, gas fitters and electricians are now most at risk of developing mesothelioma.
Just 12% of tradespeople are aware that exposure to asbestos can be fatal and less than a third know it can cause cancer, according to a new survey published by the British Lung Foundation ahead of Action Mesothelioma Day. Worryingly, three quarters of tradespeople (74%) have never had any training in how to deal with asbestos even though the Health and Safety Executive warns that any building built or refurbished before 2000 could contain asbestos.
Dame Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation said:
“We are very pleased that Dr Brian Iddon MP is continuing to support the Action Mesothelioma Campaign. Much has been achieved in the past year but there is a long way to go. We need more research into this deadly cancer, better treatments to give sufferers more hope, and more awareness amongst tradespeople of the continuing dangers of contact with asbestos.”
Dr Brian Iddon MP is pictured here signing the early day motion at the Action Against Mesothelioma Reception in Parliament
1. For more information about the British Lung Foundation, or Action Mesothelioma should visit www.lunguk.org or call the BLF Helpline on 08458 50 50 20.
2. Dr Iddon signed EDM 970 calling for greater efforts to be made to improve treatment and care for people with mesothelioma after the survey showed that time and resources were proving major barriers to the full implementation of the Mesothelioma Framework. The full text can be viewed via this link http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=35163&SESSION=891
3. The number of mesothelioma deaths each year has increased from 153 in 1968 to 1,969 in 2004. Experts predict that we face an epidemic from 2011-2015 as the death toll rises over the next decade. The total number of mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain is expected to peak at around 1,950-2,450 deaths annually sometime between 2011 and 2015
4. For further information, please contact Brian Iddon's Westminster office on 0207 219 2096