§ Chris McCaffertyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people contracted(a) mesothelioma and (b) other asbestos-related diseases in the last five years for which figures are available; where this information is publicly available; and from what year his Department's records began. [136762]
§ Mr. BrowneI have been asked to reply.
No source of information provides a complete count of the number of people contracting mesothelioma but one indication is the number of people who have died as a result of contracting mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain 1997–01 Mesothelioma deaths 1997 1,367 1998 1,541 1999 1,615 2000 11,631 2001 11,848 1 Provisional Source: Mesothelioma register. The annual number of mesothelioma deaths continues to increase. Because there is typically a long period between asbestos exposure and the onset of disease, many of the deaths occurring now are a result of exposures during the 1970s and earlier decades when work with asbestos was less tightly controlled.
The HSE mesothelioma register began keeping records of mesothelioma deaths in 1967.
No source of information provides a complete count of the number of people contracting asbestosis or diffuse pleural thickening. However, one indicator used is the annual number of awards of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Scheme.
332W
New Cases of asbestosis and diffuse pleural thickening in Great Britain 1998–02
Asbestois (pneumoconiosis
caused by asbestos)
Diffuse pleural thickening
1998 316 227 1999 407 242 2000 447 273 2001 461 291 2002 563 379 Source:
Department of Work and Pensions Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Scheme.
Data are available from 1948 from the Industrial Disablement Scheme (pneumoconiosis caused by asbestos) and from 1985 for diffuse pleural thickening.
Statistics on the annual number of asbestos related lung cancer cases are not available. Deaths from asbestos related lung cancer cannot be individually distinguished from lung cancers due to other causes such as smoking. However, it is estimated that there were between approximately 1,750 and 3,500 deaths in 2001.
Asbestos related disease statistics are published on the statistics pages of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Website.