Introduction Navigation International Ban Asbestos Secretariat

 

Global Asbestos Congress:
Past, Present and Future
Osasco, Brazil: September 17-20, 2000

Proceedings and Papers

________________________________________________

 
PLENARY SESSIONS

1. Opening of Congress
   

    

   
   
   1. Inaugural Address (text unavailable)
      Dr. Silas Bortolosso  
      (Mayor of Osasco)
      
   2. Opening Statements
      Dr. Paolo Mascarino 
      (Mayor of Casale Monferrato, Italy)
      Peter Skinner 
      (Member of the European Parliament)
      Júlio Sebastião Fernandes de Carvalho 
      (Mayor of Viana, Angola)
      Deputy Eduardo Jorge 
      (Brazil)
      Eng. Fernanda Giannasi 
      (ABREA)
      Dr. Annie Thébaud-Mony 
      (Ban Asbestos Network [BAN])
      Laurie Kazan-Allen 
      (International Ban Asbestos Secretariat [IBAS])
      
   3. Introduction to South African Photographic Exhibition
      Thabo Makweya 
      (Minister in Northern Cape Parliament, South Africa)
      
   4. The ILO and Asbestos (text unavailable)
      Armand Pereira 
      (Director, ILO Office for Brazil)
      
   5. Past, Present and Future of the Asbestos Struggle
      Dr. Richard Lemen 
      (former Assistant Surgeon General, United States Public Health Service and President of the Society for Occupational and Environmental Health [SOEH])
      
   6. Joint Health Initiative: Mount Sinai Hospital - Osasco Project
      Drs. Steven Markowitz and João de Souza Filho
      

       

2. Prevention: Asbestos Management, Identification, Maintenance or Removal, Contaminated Land
   

    

   
   
   1. Role of Trade Unions (text unavailable)
      Nigel Bryson  
      (UK)
      
   2. A Program to Minimise Occupational and Environmental Exposure to Asbestos Cement. A Regulatory View of "Controlled Use" (text unavailable)
      Dr. Peter Infante  
      (USA)
      

      Exposure in Buildings

      
      
   3. Case Study: The Berlaymont - Are there Measurable Health Effects Associated with Work in a Building Containing Flocked Asbestos?
      B. Nemery, H. De Raeve, J. Verschakelen, K.U.Leuven  
      (Belgium)
      
   4. A Ação Pública No Controle Do Amianto Anfibólio Jateado no Rio De Janeiro (Public Action in Sprayed Amphibole Asbestos Control in Rio De Janeiro)
      (Portuguese with English abstract)
      Eng. João Baptista Galvão Filho and Drs. Fátima Sueli Ribeiro and Eduardo Bethlem  
      (Brazil)
      

      Contaminated Land

      
      
   5. Asbestos Contaminated Land in South Africa: the Challenge and the Possibilities
      Dr Sophia Kisting  
      (South Africa)
      
   6. Case Study: Libby, Montana, USA (text unavailable)
      Gayla Benefield and John Constan  
      (USA)
      
   7. Case Study: Antophyllite Mine in Brazil - the Case of Itapira (text unavailable)
      Rosana Pereira de Lima and Dr. Danilo Fernandes Costa  
      (Brazil)
      

       

3. Social Activism: How Collective Strategies of Resistance are Organized by Asbestos Victims and Anti-Asbestos Campaigners in Various Countries
   

    

   
   
   1. Brazilian Association of People Exposed to Asbestos (ABREA)
      Eng. Fernanda Giannasi  
      (Brazil)
      
   2. Ban Asbestos Network Japan (BANJAN) and Japan's Citizen's Network for Wiping Out Asbestos
      Sugio Furuya  
      (Japan)
      
   3. Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia, Inc.
      Ella Sweeney  
      (Australia)
      
   4. Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia
      Robert Vojakovic  
      (Australia)
      
   5. Casale Monferrato Asbestos Victims' Group
      Bruno Pesce  
      (Italy)
      
   6. Dutch Committee of Asbestos Victims (see 8.1) Bob Ruers (Holland)
      
   7. The Association of Asbestos Victims in Slovenia
      Dr. Metoda Dodic-Fikfak  
      (Slovenia)
      
   8. White Lung Association
      Jim Fite  
      (USA)
      
   9. The Manipulation of "Scientific Organizations"
      Dr. Barry Castleman  
      (USA)
      

       

4. Compensation
   

    

   
   
   1. Personal Injury Compensation in Brazil (including Brazilian Cases Against General Motors and Saint Gobain) (text unavailable)
      Leonardo Amarante  
      (Brazil)
      
   2. Product Liability Litigation In the USA / Implications for Foreign Claimants (text unavailable)
      Dianna Lyons  
      (USA)
      
   3. Reparar Os Prejui'zos Na França, A Luta Das Vitimas Do Amianto Diante Da Justiça
      Dr. Annie Thébaud-Mony  
      (France)
      How Does the French Legal System Compensate the Injured?
   4. The Netherlands: Civil Claims, Compensation Boards and Government Awards
      Bob Ruers  
      (Holland)
      
   5. Compensation for Asbestos-Related Diseases in Australia
      Luisa Formato  
      (Australia)
      
   6. Compensation for Occupational Respiratory Diseases including Asbestosis in South Africa
      Dr Audrey Banyini  
      (South Africa)
      
   7. Case Study: Hancock and Margereson vs. T&N plc - Landmark Case for Environmental Exposure
      John Pickering  
      (UK)
      
   8. Case Study: Multinational Claims Against Cape plc by South African Workers (text unavailable)
      Richard Meeran  
      (UK)
      

       

5. Social-Medical Aspects
   

    

   
   
   1. Asbestos Diseases (text unavailable)
      Dr. Gurnam Basran  
      (UK)
      
   2. Problems with Diagnosis and Recognition of Pleural Plaques as Occupational Disease (text unavailable)
      Dr. Jefferson Freitas  
      (Brazil)
      
   3. A Mesothelioma Project
      Mavis Robinson  
      (UK)
      
   4. A Precautionary Program for Exposed Workers?
      Prof. Benedetto Terracini  
      (Italy)
      
   5. A Social and Legal Role for Doctors of Asbestos Victims (text unavailable)
      Prof. Diogo Pupo Nogueira  
      (Brazil)
      
   6. Support and Counselling of Asbestos Disease Victims and their Families
      Rose Marie Vojakovic  
      (Australia)
      
   7. Just Transition: Safe Jobs, not No Jobs
      Rory O'Neill  
      (UK)
      

      Asbestos and Profit

      
      
   8. Case Study: Limpet: Spraying Ill-Health World-Wide
      Dr. Geoffrey Tweedale  
      (UK)
      
   9. Case Study: Mining Asbestos in South Africa: Miners, Capital and the State
      Dr. Jock McCulloch  
      (Australia)
      

       

6. The Future
   

    

   
   
   1. A World Free of Asbestos: The Future
      Eng. Fernanda Giannasi  
      (Brazil)
      
   2. Nordic Experiences After Early Asbestos Bans
      Lars Vedsmand  
      (Denmark)
      
   3. Implications of The World Trade Organization Verdict for Public Health and Global Trade
      Dr. Barry Castleman  
      (USA)
      

       

7. Closing of Congress
   

    

   
   
   1. Congress Debate
      Awards
   2. Presentation of the Ray Sentes Award to Barry Castleman
      Kyla Sentes  
      (USA)
      
   3. Presentation of the June Hancock Award to Henri Pezerat
      Mavis Robinson  
      (UK)
      
   4. Presentation of the Hendrik Afrika Award to Fernando José Chierici
      Thabo Makweya  
      (South Africa)
      
   5. Closing Remarks (text unavailable)
      

      
      WORKSHOPS

8. Workshop A: Liability/ Compensation
   

   Coordinator:
   Leonardo Amarante  
   (Brazil)
   

   1. The Development of Personal-Injury Law and Compensation for Asbestos-Related Diseases in the Netherlands
      Bob Ruers  
      (Holland)
      

      Other Participants:

      
      Luisa Formato, Jock McCulloch and Robert Vojakovic  
      (Australia)
      Fuyushi Nagakura and Shigeharu Nakachi  
      (Japan)
      Dr. Audrey Banyini  
      (South Africa)
      Colin Ettinger, Richard Meeran, John Pickering and Geoffrey Tweedale 
      (UK)
      Dianna Lyons and Charles Siegel 
      (USA)
      Thomas Hart  
      (Virgin Islands)
      

       

9. Workshop B: Epidemiology, Public Health and Sociological Research
   

   Coordinator:
   Dr. Hermano Albuquerque Castro  
   (Brazil)
   

   Epidemiology

   1. Epidemiological Trends For Asbestos-Related Cancers
      Antti Tossavainen  
      (Finland)
      

      Other Participants:

      
      Prof. Benedetto Terracini  
      (Italy)
      Prof. Julian Peto  
      (UK)
      Drs. Peter Infante and Richard Lemen  
      (USA)
      

      Sociology

      
      

      Participants:

      
      Dr. Annie Thébaud-Mony  
      (France)
      Lic. Eva Delgado Rosas  
      (Peru)
      

      Public Health

      
      
   2. Japanese Situation On Asbestos Issues And Banjan's Activities
      Sugio Furuya, Fuyushi Nagakura, Yuji Natori and Shigeharu Nakachi  
      (Japan)
      
   3. Asbestos Problems In Korea: History And Current Situation
      Domyung Paek, MD, ScD  
      (Korea)
      
   4. History of the Asbestos Ban in Casale Monferrato
      Dr. Daniela Degiovanni  
      (Italy)
      

      Other Participants:

      
      Dr. Mario Epelman  
      (Argentina)
      Dr. Yuji Natori and Sugio Furuya  
      (Japan)
      Dr. T Jayabalan  
      (Malaysia)
      Dr. Metoda Dodic-Fikfak  
      (Slovenia)
      Dr. Sophia Kisting  
      (South Africa)
      Mavis Robinson  
      (Asbestos Nursing Specialist, UK)
      

       

10. Workshop C: Asbestos-Related Diseases, Diagnosis, Pathology, Treatment and Experimental Studies (Gene Therapy)
    

    Coordinator:
    Dr. Eduardo Algranti  
    (Brazil)
    

    1. Avaliação Respiratória em Trabalhadores de Uma Industria Têxtil de Amianto
       Hermano Albuquerque de Castro, Alfred Lemle, Luis Carlos Correia Alves, Antonio Chibante, Vera Gomes Bom (Brasil)
       English translation by Chris Whitehouse: 
       Evaluation of Respiratory Problems among Workers in an Asbestos Textile Factory
       
    2. Uses and Abuses of Pathology in Asbestos-exposed Populations
       Jerrold L. Abraham, MD  
       (USA)
       
    3. Câncer De Pulmão E Asbestos: Critérios Para Atribuição Diagnostica
       Ubiratan de Paula Santos  
       (Brasil)
       
    4. Issues in the Management of Asbestos-related Diseases
       Domyung Paek, MD, ScD  
       (Korea)
       

       Other Participants:

       
       Prof. Benoit Nemery  
       (Belgium)
       Dr. Yuji Natori and Shigeharu Nakachi  
       (Japan)
       Dr. T. Jayabalan  
       (Malaysia)
       Dr. Metoda Dodic-Fikfak  
       (Slovenia)
       Dr. Gurnam Basran  
       (UK)
       Drs. Steven Markowitz and Christine Oliver  
       (USA)
       

       
       ROUND TABLES

11. Round-Table Discussion A: Strategies for Latin America and the Developing World to Ban Asbestos
    

    Coordinators:
    Dr. Eduardo Rodrigues  
    (Argentina)
    Lic. Eva Delgado Rosas  
    (Peru)
    Dr. René Mendes  
    (Brazil)
    

12. Round-Table Discussion B: Asbestos Victims Speak-Out!
    

    Coordinators:
    Eliezer João de Souza  
    (Brazil)
    

    1. Congress Video Presentations
       

        

13. Round-Table Discussion C: Trade Unions and Asbestos: Old Problems and New Solutions
    

    Coordinators:
    Edison Luiz Bernardes  
    (Brazil)
    

    1. Union Statement on Banning Asbestos Worldwide
       

       
       POSTER PRESENTATIONS

14. Academic and Group Presentations
    

     

    
    
    1. Asbestos-Cement Materials: A Practical Approach to Protecting Worker Health during Maintenance and Construction
       Andrew F. Oberta  
       (USA)
       
    2. Remediation Of Land In Israel Contaminated By Asbestos Cement Waste Material
       Eng. Zilly Anavi  
       (Israel)
       Dr. David Dizenhouse  
       (Israel)
       Andrew F. Oberta  
       (USA)
       
    3. Asbestos Diseases in Brazil and the Building of Counter- Powers: A Study in Health, Work, and Gender
       L. Scavone (Brazil), F. Giannasi (Brazil) and A. Thébaud-Mony (France)
       

       Portuguese:

       Doenças Profissionais Provocadas pelo Amiantono Brasil e a Construção dos Contra-Poderes:Uma Abordagem em Saúde, Trabalho e Gênero
       Scavone (Brasil), F. Giannasi (Brasil) and A. Thébaud-Mony (França)
       
    4. A Saúde e as Condições de Trabalho dos Trabalhadores Expostos ao Amianto de Uma Indústria Têxtil no Rio De Janeiro: Análise e Intervenção na Realidade
       Vanda D'Acri, Hermano Albuquerque de Castro, Maria Blandina Marques dos Santos, Katia Reis de Souza and Cyro Haddad Novello
       (Brasil)
       

       English Abstract (compiled by Chris Whitehouse):

       The Health and Working Conditions of Workers Exposed to Asbestos in a Rio De Janeiro Textile Factory: Analysis and Intervention
       
    5. A Saúde e as Relações de Gênero dos Trabalhadores de Uma Indústria Têxtil de Amianto no Rio De Janeiro
       Vanda D'Acri, Hermano Albuquerque de Castro, Maria Blandina Marques dos Santos, Katia Reis de Souza and Cyro Haddad Novello  
       (Brasil)
       
    6. Occupational and Environmental Rights Violation in the Asbestos Industry in Mexico
       G. Aguilar-Madrid, C. A. Juárez-Pérez, J. H. Vazquez-Grameix and
       M. Hernández-Avila  
       (Mexico)
       
    7. Amphibole Asbestos Contamination in Mineral Raw Materials: the Example of some Brazilian Talc Deposits
       G. A. J. Szabó, Fo, J. B. Madureira, F. M. S. Carvalho,
       F. R. D. Andrade and G. G. B. Guimarães  
       (Brazil)
       
    8. Merseyside Victims Support Group Display and Distributed Papers
       John Flanagan
    9. Institutional Knowledge, Common Knowledge: Occupational Asbestos Diseases and Gender
       Lucila Scavone and Jovana Alves de Melo
       For coverage of the Children's Poster Competition see Illustrated Congress Report by Laurie Kazan Allen and Congress Photographs
       

        

15. Extra Congress Submissions
    

     

    
    
    1. A Construção de Contra-Poderes no Brasil na Luta Contra o Amianto: a Globalização por Baixo
       Fernanda Giannasi  
       (Brasil)
       

       English Abstract (compiled by Chris Whitehouse):

       Globalisation from Below: Building an Anti-Asbestos Movement in Brazil
       
    2. Asbestos Diseases Association (Inc) of New Zealand - A View of the Asbestos Situation from 1990 to the Year 2000
       H. Grootegoed  
       (New Zealand)
       
    3. Efeitos da Inalação de Fibras de Asbesto (Amianto) Sobre a Saúde Humana: Estado Atual do Conhecimento a Fundamentação Científica para uma Política de Priorização da Defesa da Vida, da Saúde e do Meio-Ambiente
       Prof. René Mendes  
       (Brasil)
       

       English Abstract (compiled by Chris Whitehouse):

       Effects of the Inhalation of Asbestos Fibres on Human Health: the Current State of Knowledge and the Scientific Grounds for a Policy that Prioritises Life, Health and the Environment
       
    4. Pushed into Social Exclusion: Asbestos-Related Disability and Relative Poverty on Clydeside
       Ronald Johnston and Arthur McIvor  
       (Scotland)
       
    5. Incubating Death: Working with Asbestos in Clydeside Shipbuilding and Engineering, 1945-1990
       Ronald Johnston and Arthur McIvor  
       (Scotland)
       
    6. Turners and the Asbestos Legacy in Clydebank
       Ronald Johnston and Arthur McIvor  
       (Scotland)
       
    7. Asbestos Magnate to Environmental Guru: The Morphing of Stephan Schmidheiny
       Daniel M. Berman and Adrian Knoepfli  
       (USA)
       
    8. The Still Emerging Public Health Problem
       George A. Peters and Barbara J. Peters  
       (USA)
       
    9. Programa de Salud del Trabajador Asbesto
       Ministerio de Salud, Argentina
    10. WTO Upholds French Ban on Chrysotile
        Laurie Kazan-Allen  
        (UK)
        

         

16. Congress Reports
    

     

    
    
    1. Illustrated Report (English and Portuguese)
       Laurie Kazan-Allen
    2. Text Report
       John Flanagan
    3. Text Report
       A.H.  
       (Ed)
       Grootegoed
    4. Text Report (Italian)
       Benedetto Terracini

        

17. Photographs
    

     

    
    
    1. Extracts from South African Photographic Exhibition
       Hein du Plessis
    2. Informal and Formal Photographs of Congress Delegates and Proceedings
       Eduardo Metroviche, Laurie Kazan-Allen, Fernanda Giannasi and John Flanagan
    3. Asbestos and Asbestos Related Diseases in India
       Hein du Plessis
       

        

18. Contacts
    

     

    
    
    1. Congress Organizers
       Fernanda Giannasi fer.giannasi@terra.com.br
       Laurie Kazan-Allen lkaz@btconnect.com
       Annie Thebaud-Mony annie.mony@gmail.com
       

        

    2. Delegates