Correspondence Asbestos Risk Assessment in Pakistan: Current Scenario and Way Forward

Asbestos is used widely in various manufacturing industries in Paki-stan despite the adverse health affects associated with it. Around 70% of the global consumption of asbestos is from Asian countries like China, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia,1 where it is used in manufacturing of products for insulation, roofing, building materi-als, car brakes, etc. Prolonged exposure to asbestos is predominantly linked to dis-eases like asbestosis, mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer; all forms of asbestos are classified as human carcino-gens.1,2 According to WHO, it has been estimated that around 125 million people are being exposed to asbestos globally leading to an estimated 90 000 deaths annually.3 Various international organiza-tions like international labor organization (ILO), WHO and others joined together to call for a worldwide ban on asbestos use in 2006.3 However, only around 23 % of WHO member states have imposed the ban so far while majority of the low- and middle-income countries continue to use it in various products to date.3 ILO in 1986 has established asbestos convention to promote national laws and regulations for the “prevention, control and protection of workers against health hazards due to oc-cupational exposure to asbestos.”4 Inter-national standards are also available for work involving asbestos containing par-ticles which include con-trolling expo-sure to air-borne fibres, measur-ing exposure to air-borne fibres, prop-er disposal of as-bestos containing material (ACM) to protect the community and environment, identify-ing asbestos materials and training of the personnel who would be involved in in-spections, maintenance, removal or labo-ratory analysis.4 Pakistan has still not banned asbestos generation and use in the country.1 Min-ing of asbestos has been done in variou