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Medical recordsthat pertain to asbestosis or mesothelioma must be dug up from the archives ofthe past. Without medical recordcollections and retrievals, the forewarnings of impending asbestosis and mesotheliomacome only from witnessing the sufferings of an asbestosis patient or thelanguishing death of a mesothelioma cancer patient.
Asbestosis and mesothelioma statistics are sharplyunder-estimated due to the lack of many nations to implement an efficientmedical retrieval system and properly care for and diagnose lung diseasepatients who are suffering from asbestosis or mesothelioma due to asbestosexposure. In many nations, physiciansthat are able to properly diagnose the disease are rarely, if ever,available. These same nations often havepoor record keeping systems in place to monitor health trends and examinemedical histories. Many times asbestosisand mesothelioma are simply referenced as ?lung disease,? without a properdetermination of the classification of lung disease.
Years pass before these progressive lung diseases startshowing their scarring presence, but an archive of medical history canfacilitate proper diagnosis, and national archives of medical histories canfacilitate early warnings. Despite thisknowledge, India has no cancer registry, nor does it have a system forrecording mesothelioma and asbestosis cases. In the Philippines, the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC)reports that asbestos caused diseases will be under diagnosed due to lowemployer participation in submitting medical records to a central agency. (Less than 5% of employers do so.)
In Brazil, wherecorporations scurry to cover any implications of occupational hazards or illwill, medical records are virtually non-existent for asbestos workers. The Eternit asbestos plant in Brazil has hadasbestos workers for over 50 years, yet no medical records were ever kept priorto 1978. In China, death records are purged and permanentlyeliminated after death, leaving no source for documenting trends in deaths orcomparisons and similarities between diseases. And although China is one of the top fiveasbestos producers and users in the world, this nation continues to have aminimal amount of empirical studies on the implications of asbestos exposure.
Fortunately, in many nations, allowable exposure limitsare being reduced, inspections are being heightened, and politicians andcorporations are being pressured. Environmental groups and protection agencies continue to test asbestosmaterial and promote its eventual ban. Unfortunately, politics and corporations stillgovern irresponsible asbestos promotions, and millions of innocent people areunaware of its dangers. The lack of publicawareness has led to a deadly economic dependency on asbestos.
Asbestosis and mesothelioma deaths need to be recorded,death records need to be maintained, and medical histories of asbestos workersneed to be compiled to gain a full realization of the statistical andeconomical impact of the world's burgeoning asbestosis and mesotheliomacrisis. Asbestosis and mesotheliomarecords are useless, however, unless they are used to promote change anddevelop public awareness ? which is precisely what the mining and tradingnations are afraid of.