Asbestos Meetings in Japan
During April, 2004, a series of meetings took place in the run-up to the Global Asbestos Congress due to be held in Tokyo this Autumn. The Spring events were organized to raise awareness of this landmark Asian conference; media interest was high and news of the conferences, seminars, interviews and roundtables appeared on local and national TV as well as in the press. During sessions in Tokyo, Matsuyama, Nagoya, Yokosuka, Osaka and Kagoshima, Dr. Barry Castleman from the US and Laurie Kazan-Allen from the UK were given the opportunity to discuss global asbestos issues and learn about Japanese developments such as problems stemming from the presence of deteriorating sprayed asbestos in local schools and the status of asbestos litigation brought by injured employees from the US naval base in Yokosuka.
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| Laurie Kazan-Allen with members of asbestos victims group in Yokosuka. |
The well-attended events revealed the strong grass-root support which the GAC enjoys; participation by Japanese asbestos victims and their relatives in panel presentations was highly valued.
Since 2002, the GAC organisers have been working on this unique 3-day conference; the fact that so many Japanese labor organizations, professional associations and victims' groups have agreed to participate is testament to the effectiveness of the GAC team. Support from international bodies such as the Collegium Ramazzini, the ILO (Tokyo Branch), European Trade Union Confederation and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions has also been secured.
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| Dr. Temmyo Yoshiomi, Chair of GAC2004 Committee, addressing Nagoya asbestos conference. |
June 16, 2004
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1GAC 2004 website: http://park3.wakwak.com/~gac2004/
