Published by the government of Zimbabwe
30 June 2006
column
Harare — THE international war against asbestos appears to have taken a whole new dimension.
It has buried the original health concerns and emerged in a new political and economic shape.
It is no longer the fight against a mineral regarded as dangerous to mankind (or womankind) but a battle against a mineral so irrelevant to the advancement of developed countries, in particular the West.
In fact, anti-chrysotile asbestos (non-harmful asbestos) groups may covertly be pushing for alternative industrial fibres, which have not been adequately evaluated and may have the same or even a higher risk potential than white asbestos.
It is evident that major commercial interests are at stake here, and nobody, except transitional lobbyists, comes out winner of a commercial war being fought under the banner of environmental concerns.
The West, the US and Japan have banned the use of asbestos and all its related products while in South Africa the ban is still crawling through the corridors of legislation.
But what these lobby groups have ignored is that any form of dust poses serious health risks if inhaled in excess.
In Africa, asbestos plays a key role, especially for the poor who use it for roofing purposes, water and sewer systems.
Personally, I was raised in an asbestos roofed house, and any ill-health suffered has not been a result of this unless, of course, intermittent headaches were caused by excessive exposure to the mineral.
In my humble opinion, Europe's anti-asbestos crusade has more to do with business interests than genuine global health concerns.
We are not really moved by such ulterior motives.
Everite, a manufacturer of non-asbestos fibre and one of South Africa's biggest firms advocating against asbestos, admitted in a new documentary, "'The Asbestos Story", produced by Harare-based communications firm Savanna Media Centre that economic interests hold sway.
Zimbabwe is a major producer of asbestos, but its variety is not harmful to human beings or the workers who mine it.
At Shabanie, the country's largest chrysotile asbestos mine, cases of people who have died as a result of asbestos related illness are next to zero.
Workers undergo routine health checks and less than 1 percent have been proven to suffer from diseases related to white asbestos.
Brazil, Canada, China and Russia, among other states, are still actively involved in the extraction of white asbestos and have resisted the ill-advised and Western-inspired attempt to put a blackout on the mineral.
Brown and blue asbestos can cause lung cancer, malignant mesothelioma and gastrointestinal cancers but these have received worldwide condemnation and subsequently banned.
Instead of spending money on serious health issues like Aids, which has killed millions of people worldwide, the West intends to spend billions of dollars removing asbestos from public buildings and advocating the ban of asbestos.
White asbestos mined in Zimbabwe is safe and does not pose any health risk to anyone -- the workers included.
A 2004 report by the Canadian Ontario Commission on Asbestos stated: "There is strong evidence that blue asbestos and brown asbestos fibres tend to be more hazardous than chrysotile fibres primarily because they are more likely to conform to the most hazardous length and diameter.
"Secondly, because they are more likely to become airborne and hence to be respirable.
"Chrysotile asbestos has a curly structure and cannot be swallowed into like blue and brown asbestos, which are straight.
"There is no medical evidence of increased cancer risks if chrysotile fibre is ingested.
"The ban asbestos campaign with no scientific evidence is being instigated to promote alternates being manufactured in Europe.
"The target of asbestos ban is aimed at developing countries. The West the believes that these countries do not mine asbestos the way it was done in the 1940s."
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