Representative Betty McCollum and Senator Patty Murray have introduced a motion to establish September 26th as “National Mesothelioma Awareness Day,” a day committed to rallying support for the disease’s victims.
Mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive cancer of the soft tissue which encases the body’s vital organs, claims some ninety to one-hundred thousand lives each year worldwide. The disease has been positively linked with exposure to asbestos, a substance used frequently as an insulator and sealant, and as an additive in many industrial compounds.
While knowledge of the adverse effects of asbestos was established in the early twentieth century, many governments have been slow to adopt laws that could curb exposure to the dangerous substance. Around fifty-two nations around the globe, including the vast majority of the European Union as well as Australia and New Zealand, have completely banned asbestos from the industrial market. America, Britain, Russia, China and Canada, however, have thus far failed to implement a total ban but instead have introduced strict regulations and restrictions.
In the United States, a total ban on asbestos was attempted in the late 1980′s. The law, proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, was overturned just a few years later by asbestos industry corporations seeking to protect their profits.
The recognition of National Mesothelioma Awareness Day hasn’t been passed into law yet. The bill, also known as H. 771, is mired in the house’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is chaired by Representative Edolphus Towns.
The search for a mesothelioma cure, however, and the effort to increase the public’s awareness of the disease, are gaining more support today than any time in the past. Florida, for example, passed a bill last year instating the twenty-sixth of September as the state’s own Mesothelioma Awareness Day. It will be recognized for the first time this year.
The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, commonly referred to as the Meso Foundation, is playing a huge role in championing the cause. The organization is ramping up its efforts year after year, hosting marathons, conferences and other events to raise money, increase popular support, and call the medical community as well as the government to action.
The Meso Foundation has high hopes for the coming year. With the possibility of a National Mesothelioma Awareness Day taking place for the first time in 2010, they’re hoping to coordinate their efforts to maximize their campaign’s efficacy. Representatives of the Meso Foundation will be in New York on September 26th for the taping of the Today Show, and they will be placing awareness ads in the high profile 10 Rockefeller display window during the week surrounding the 26th.
Meanwhile, asbestos exposure continues to affect hundreds of thousands of lives each year. With the possible recognition of an annual Mesothelioma Awareness day starting in 2010, however, the disease’s ugly history may be breaching the beginning of the end.