§ Mr. Parryasked the Paymaster General how many persons have died from asbestos-related diseases in England and Wales in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. TrippierThe following table gives the numbers of' death certificates which mention the asbestos-related diseases asbestosis and mesothelioma. Some deaths involving mesothelioma may not be related to asbestos. The most recent figures are for 1984.
Death certificates mentioning asbestos-related diseases 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 England and Wales Asbestosis without mesothelioma 90 119 119 108 115 Asbestosis with mesothelioma 67 62 76 86 78 Mesothelioma without asbestosis 338 352 368 426 468 Total 495 533 563 620 661 In addition, studies have shown that workers heavily exposed to asbestos in the past now suffer a significantly higher incidence of lung cancer than the general population. There are, however, no figures of the total numbers of asbestos-related deaths from this disease.