August 24, 2019
No matter where you are in the world, asbestos kills. For the more than 60 countries where the use of asbestos is now banned, this deadly substance – once deemed a ‘wonder material’ – now presents a ticking time bomb. For countries still using asbestos, however, which includes the UAE despite its ban, the root of the problem is yet to be contained and so the scale of the final problem is yet to be uncovered.
Asbestos is the biggest occupational cancer killer, claiming more than 200,000 lives a year worldwide, according to the Global Health Data Exchange. In the United Kingdom and the United States alone, in 2017 over 55,000 people died from work-related asbestos-caused diseases.
“despite numerous countries in the region banning asbestos, including the UAE in 2006, there is evidence that asbestos containing materials are still being used”
Comparing prevention and policy from the UK and the US allows us to better understand the scope