18 April 2008
editorial
While the country is still grappling with the fire tragedy that took away lives of 18 pupils of Budo Junior and injured many others, there is now also another danger lurking in the aftermath of the inferno.
The burnt school dormitory was thatched with asbestos sheets which have been declared a dangerous health hazard by WHO. Scientific studies show that people who repeatedly breathe in asbestos fibers may develop a slow buildup of scar-like tissue in the lungs and in the membrane that surrounds the lungs.
This causes breathing complications and blood flow to the lung may also be decreased resulting in a disease called asbestosis. Asbestosis can eventually lead to disability or death depending on the amounts of asbestos one is exposed to.
Asbestos fibres are also known to cause two principal cancers: cancer of the lung tissue itself and mesothelioma, a cancer of the thin membrane that surrounds the lung and other internal organs. These diseases do not develop immediately following exposure to asbestos, but appear after a number of years.
Since the burnt dormitory at Budo Junior had been roofed with asbestos sheets, the survivors of the inferno should be taken for laboratory examination to determine the amount of asbestos fibres they breathed in as a result of the fumes from the burning sheets.
This will help in determining the extent of the risk of asbestosis the pupils were exposed to and be able to take early measures to mitigate the health danger.
It is not enough to say the children have survived the inferno today when a few years down the road they may die of secondary infections arising from the asbestos fibres they inhaled. But besides that, the school management should be held to answer why up to date they are still having asbestos roofed buildings, yet the material has been banned for years.
The government and the ministry of education are also liable for supervisory and administrative negligence. The ministry's inspectorate unit should ensure that no school in the country remains roofed with asbestos sheets. It's not just about the fire risk alone.
It has been scientifically proved that rain water running off asbestos roofs can cause cancer in human beings because it contains asbestos fibres.
And in such schools, there is a high possibility that school children will harvest such rain water and drink it thereby involuntarily exposing themselves to the above risks. Don't wait until another tragedy strikes.
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