Asbestos kills 47,000 people across the EU each year

(ANSA) - Brussels, June 25 - Approximately 47,000 people die from asbestos-related causes in Europe each year, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) said Thursday.
    That is 50% higher than originally believed and double the number of deaths related to road accidents, the committee added.
    "Children and teachers in schools, DIY enthusiasts and maintenance workers are among the new risk groups joining the long list of workers and members of the public increasingly at risk from asbestos infested buildings across Europe," EESC said in a statement. Although banned in 2005, asbestos is still found in many places, and now interventions underway across the continent in the name of energy efficiency are putting more people at risk. Hence countries such as Italy that provide incentives for building upgrades are urged "to train the workforce, both within companies specialised in energy efficiency and in ordinary (construction) firms," said Enrico Gibellieri, a member of the EESC's consultative committee on industrial change.
    "We are asking every country to map its asbestos and draw up plans for disposal, using national and structural funds," the EESC's asbestos co-rapporteur continued.
    Estimates put the cost of eliminating the problem as between 10 and 15 billion euros in the larger EU member states.
    "We are also calling for greater efforts to diagnose and acknowledge the disease and for a homogeneous system (to be introduced) across Europe for victim compensation," Gibellieri said.