Published on: May 7, 2010

Melody Kemp from the Society for Environmental Journalism writes about how Western countries banned asbestos and how then the industry shifted its focus to developing countries.

In 2006, she says, India imported 360,000 tonnes of asbestos.  And in 2008, India – along with Pakistan, Canada and Russia – rejected the banning of chrysotile asbestos mandated under the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent.

Asbestos-related diseases cause a very painful and slow death.  She points out how vast the suffering is and how even palliative care is not available to the sufferers.  She writes:

The pain of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases can be agonising and requires another white powder – morphine – to provide relief. Ironically many of the countries where asbestos disease is rife, such as India, have a shortfall in the supply of legally scheduled opiates. There is no shortfall in asbestos.

Read the full report: http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/3600

Part one of the report here: http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/3597-A-deadly-white-dust-1-