ADRI knowledge leads international journal special edition

ADRI Executive Director Dr Ken Takashi recently led a special asbestos issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health as guest editor.

The special issue showcases national experiences and key lessons learned in the context of leadership, know-how and capacity with adopting national bans on asbestos, experiences which are transferrable to the many countries still using asbestos, but with a vision to ban asbestos.

In the journal, members the ADRI team published an article ‘Australia’s Ongoing Legacy of Asbestos’, a comprehensive update on asbestos-related disease in Australia.

Lead author, epidemiologist Dr Matthew Soeberg from ADRI, says, “The update on asbestos in Australia is sobering. Despite Australia’s complete asbestos ban being in place since 2003, the figures show that the ban is only part of an unfinished story. Almost fifteen years later, Australia is only now seeing the peak of its asbestos-related disease epidemic from the ongoing risks of asbestos exposure. The Australian community needs to remain vigilant to the public health risk of asbestos exposure from existing asbestos or asbestos-containing materials.”

The journal can be accessed in full here.