HSE Release New Statistics On Mesothelioma Deaths In Great Britain

New statistical evidence on the deaths in the country from being exposed to asbestos, have been released by the HSE.

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that takes many years to develop following the inhalation of asbestos fibres, but is usually rapidly fatal following disease onset. Annual deaths in Britain increased steeply over the last 50 years, a consequence of mainly occupational asbestos exposures that occurred because of the widespread industrial use of asbestos during 1950-1980.

The report into deaths from Mesothelioma, damage to the lungs caused by exposure to Asbestos through inhaling the tiny particles of Asbestos dust in the air, show an increase in death rates from the disease.

The main set of statistics in the report are:

* There were 2,515 mesothelioma deaths in Great Britain in 2014, a similar number to the 2,556 deaths in 2013, and 2,549 deaths in 2012.

* The latest projections suggest that there will continue to be around 2,500 deaths per year for the rest of this current decade before annual numbers begin to decline.

* The continuing increase in annual mesothelioma deaths in recent years has been driven mainly by deaths among those aged 75 and above.

* In 2014 there were 2,101 male deaths and 414 female deaths.

* There were 2,215 new cases of mesothelioma assessed for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) in 2014 compared with 2,145 in 2013.

*Men who worked in the building industry when asbestos was used extensively are now among those most at risk of mesothelioma.

The report notes that annual deaths increased steeply over this period among both men and women. The substantially higher numbers of deaths among men reflects that fact that past asbestos exposures tended to occur in male dominated occupations.

The most recent data show that numbers of annual deaths were similar in the last three years with 2,549 in 2012, 2,556 in 2013 and 2,515 in 2014, see Table MESO01 www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/meso01.xlsx. There were 2,101 male deaths and 414 female deaths in 2014.

You can download the full 8 page report from the E-Library Database, plus the CWU has issued a detailed fact sheet on Mesothelioma, including graphics which illustrate the damage to the lungs caused by this terrible and incurable disease. It can be downloaded from the E-Library Database here