Asbestos-related cancer patients hit 30 in six years

Monday 04 September 2017

30 patients have been diagnosed with asbestos-related cancer in Jersey since 2011.

Caused by tiny airborne fibres lodging in the lungs and irritating the tissue, Mesothelioma, which can be fatal, results in chest pain under the ribcage, painful coughing, shortness of breath and unexplained weight loss.

It is thought that those who worked in construction in the 60s, 70s and 80s are most susceptible due to the prevalence of the material in property development, which they may have carried home on their clothes and hair, also putting family members at risk. Smoking also increases chances of contracting the illness. Nonetheless, the condition does not tend to rear its head for some 40 years following exposure.

More than 2,600 people are diagnosed with the rare but deadly cancer each year in the UK, but now figures released under the Freedom of Information law have shown the amount of Jersey people affected. Since 2011, 30 unique patients have been admitted to the Jersey General Hospital 267 times between them for either inpatient or day case episodes.

The hospital has taken in between six and nine different patients over the past six years, with the number peaking at 10 in 2014. So far this year, eight unique cases have been seen.

Pictured: The Jersey General Hospital has helped patients with mesothelioma 267 times from 2011 to date.

The condition is incurable and States officials said that there had been no successful treatments on Jersey patients to date.

The new figures come following an increased emphasis on asbestos-related concerns in recent years – particularly in relation to Fort Regent. Earlier this year, Express reported that a local man suffering from an asbestos-related illness, which he believes was related to his time working at Fort Regent in the 1970s, sought his former colleagues to warn them of the risks.

A Planning Application has now been submitted to demolish the leisure complex’s swimming pool and cable car station, which are known to contain significant amounts of the carcinogenic substance.

The idea of demolition raised concerns over whether the process would send deadly fibres into the surrounding area, but Minister for Infrastructure Eddie Noel, explained to the States Assembly in February that, “…the only safe way to remove that asbestos is to effectively wrap the whole building before one starts demolishing it.”

Pictured: The Fort Regent swimming pool and cable car station, which contain the cancer-causing material, could soon be demolished.

The company responsible for the demolition will also be mandated to have an ‘asbestos management plan’ under government health and safety regulations in order to reduce the risk to workers.

Speaking previously to Express, Tammy Fage, the States’ Director of Health and Safety, said that it was, “…vitally important that steps are taken to prevent exposures to asbestos at work, particularly during refurbishment and demolition of buildings built or refurbished before 2000, where asbestos-containing materials may still be found.”

"The level of risk is almost certainly based on a number of factors including the level of airborne fibres, the duration and frequency of exposure – with the greater the cumulative exposure to asbestos fibres the greater the increase in the risk of developing disease,” she commented.