In Italy, in the last ten years, around 60 thousand people have died from asbestos-related diseases. In the year 2023, the National Asbestos Observatory recorded approximately 2,000 cases of mesothelioma, with a mortality rate, compared to the previous 5 years, of approximately 93% of cases. In the same year there were approximately 4,000 new diagnoses of lung cancer due to exposure to asbestos (net of smoking and other carcinogenic agents), with an estimated 5-year survival rate of 12% for a calculation of approximately 3,500 deaths. The data were released on the occasion of World Asbestos Victims Day which is celebrated tomorrow.
“On this day, in which the victims of asbestos are remembered, we appeal to Prime Minister Meloni to return it to the government agenda – states Ezio Bonanni, president of the Observatory -. We remember that only reclamation and safety can avoid the exposure to asbestos and therefore future diagnoses of asbestos-related diseases which, unfortunately, in more than 90% of cases turn into a death sentence”.
The Observatory also explains that “every year there are 10 thousand new diagnoses, mainly men, for reasons of their professional commitment and workers in factories or military sites and in particular in the regions at greatest risk which, with an annual average of diagnosed cases between 1,500 and 1,800, Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria and Lazio represent over 56% of the reported cases”.
According to WHO statistics, around 125 million workers around the world are still exposed to the carcinogenic substance, and more than 107 thousand die every year due to asbestos.
As regards Italy in 2024, there are “40 million tonnes of asbestos within 1 million sites and microsites, of which 50 thousand are industrial, and 42 of national interest. The situation is even more dramatic – adds the Observatory – as the dangerous carcinogen is also present in the buildings of 2,500 schools (estimated 2023), within which more than 352,000 pupils and 50,000 teaching and non-teaching staff are exposed. Again, 1,500 libraries and cultural buildings included at least 500 hospitals (estimated as an underestimate because the Ona mapping is still in progress) have asbestos components in their structures and technical systems, in particular thermal, electrical and thermo-hydraulic”.
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