International Commission On Occupational Health - ICOH Concrete Actions For The Asbestos Ban

ICOH Concrete Actions For The Asbestos Ban

ICOH relations with International Organizations (WHO, ILO) have received critiques, notably on the issue of asbestos: "Part of the explanation for this bland acceptance of the asbestos cancer epidemic is that the WHO and the ILO have allowed organizations such as the International Commission on occupational Health (ICOH) and other asbestos industry consultants and experts to manipulate them and to distort the scientific evidence. The WHO and the ILO were lulled into inaction by conflicting scientific reports of the epidemic."

Actually, ICOH has set among its main priorities the Asbestos Ban, taking a very clear position in favour of the global ban of asbestos. Through its official bodies and individual members ICOH took actions at all levels of activity, global, national and workplace levels:

1. After the "Call for an International ban for asbestos" produced by the Collegium Ramazzini, the ICOH Officers Meeting in Paris, 30–31 August 1999, chaired by the ICOH President at that time, Professor Jean-Francois Caillard, decided to endorse it. Furthermore the endorsement of the "Call for an International ban for asbestos" was approved by the ICOH 2nd General Assembly on 1 September 2000, in connection with the ICOH 2000 Congress.
2. The need for a continuous follow-up was recognised during ICOH 2000-2002 triennium and the ICOH President, Prof. Bengt Knave, decided to establish a Task Group on Asbestos (including members of the Board), that presented in the ICOH Board Meeting of 1–2 March 2002, an article by Benedetto Terracini "World Asbestos Congress: Past, Present and Future, Osasco (Brazil) 17–20 September 2000", as a report. The article was endorsed by the Board.
3. The European Conference on Asbestos 2003 on 3–6 September 2003, drafted and adopted the “Dresden Declaration on Protection of Workers against Asbestos”. The Declaration was drafted with strong input by ICOH President and the Secretary of the Scientific Committee on Industrial Hygiene and it summarizes the contemporary effort of ICOH which has the scientific role to “provide guidance and support for a well-governed process to eliminate the use of asbestos”. For this aim, ICOH Past President, Prof. Jorma Rantanen, during the 13th Session of the Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health made the proposal for elimination of asbestos related diseases as a priority for ILO/WHO collaboration. The Committee unanimously approved the proposal.
4. ICOH commitment in this field was also attested by the full support to the Asian Asbestos Conference 2006 organized in Thailand on 26–27 July 2006 by the Ministry of Public Health and co-sponsored by the International Labour Office (ILO), the World Health Organization (WHO), International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) and the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH). During the Conference, Prof. Jorma Rantanen declared ICOH's unequivocal support for a global asbestos ban; this position is rooted in the experiences of ICOH members who have observed the dire consequences of hazardous asbestos exposures on their patients in industrialized countries. Prof. Rantanen urged that concerted action be taken by international agencies, national governments, trade unions and NGOs to raise awareness of the asbestos hazard and to highlight the long-term economic benefits of transferring to non-asbestos technologies.
5. The "Bangkok Declaration", recalling the ILO resolution on Asbestos, the ILO Conventions on Occupational Cancer (No. 139), the Safety in the Use of Asbestos, the WHO Global Strategy on Occupational Health for All and the WHA Resolution 58.22 on Cancer Prevention and Control and considering the ICOH International Code of Ethics for Occupational Health Professionals, declared the support of its signatories for a global asbestos ban and was widely disseminated through many networks.
6. For the triennium 2009-2012, a new ICOH Working Group on the Elimination of Asbestos-related Diseases was set. The Working Group mainly focused on examining the existing regulations and bans in order to develop specific recommendation for actions and guidelines.
7. ICOH continued its efforts on this specific issue through the ICOH Statement: Global Asbestos Ban and the Elimination of Asbestos-Related Diseases.To accomplish such elimination, ICOH urges each and every individual country to implement a total ban on production and use of asbestos. ICOH also urges complementary efforts aimed at primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of asbestos-related diseases through country-specific “National Programmes for Elimination of Asbestos-Related Diseases” in line with ILO and WHO guidelines.

At the national level the expert input of ICOH members to the decisions concerning the ban of asbestos can be found for example in Finland, Sweden, Germany, Japan and Norway. The ICOH members also were most instrumental in production of the "Asbestos, asbestosis, and cancer: the Helsinki criteria for diagnosis and attribution"- a document that has been taken in use in everyday practices in diagnosing, recognition and compensation of asbestos related diseases and has also been used in courts in some countries in defence of victims of the diseased persons. ICOH members also train the experts in occupational medicine and safety by using the research and criteria documents as a support for education.