On January 4th, 30 members of Rajasthan State Mine Labour Union staged a protest at the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) in Ahmedabad, India to demand the release of the institute’s report of tests it conducted on asbestos miners. Asbestos is a carcinogenic mineral known to cause lung cancer and mesothelioma – a rare cancer of the protective lining of the lungs, heart, chest and abdomen – that has been banned in most of the Western world. The mining and use of asbestos is still legal in India, yet workers who deal with asbestos are usually not properly trained or attired to prevent their own exposure to this hazardous material.
Rana Sengupta, managing trustee of Mines Labour Protection Campaign (MLPC), said that 19 of 164 workers studied by NIOH have already died, making the results of the studies all the more important in order to initiate protective measures and treat those affected. Asbestos-related diseases, which also include asbestosis, can take decades to develop, but they are all fatal if not treated in time. Mesothelioma is particularly difficult to detect because it remains asymptomatic until it reaches stage three or four, when it becomes tremendously difficult to treat. Plus, most of these minors have no access to mesothelioma treatment that could save or at least prolong their lives.
NIOH scientists have declared that 93 of the workers studied are suspected to have been affected. However, the report has not been released because members of the NIOH team that conducted the tests suddenly resigned. The protesters say they will go on a hunger strike if their demand is not met.
