This decision should allow patients “to benefit from better possibilities for compensation and support”, according to a decree published in the Official Journal.
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It is a decision which should allow patients “to benefit from better possibilities for compensation and support”. Cancers of the larynx and ovary, caused following“inhalation of asbestos dust”are now recognized as occupational diseases, according to a decree published Sunday October 15 in the Official Journal. “Eligible workers can contact their primary health insurance fund to submit a request for compensation and obtain recognition of their pathology as an illness of occupational origin”provides the text.
In a survey published in September 2022, the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) noted that larynx and ovarian cancers are “under-reported and under-recognized”when they are linked to occupational exposure to asbestos.
Leading cause of occupational cancers
Asbestos, used for several decades during the 20th century in the construction of buildings, is now banned in many countries such as France. Its link with laryngeal or ovarian cancers had already been recognized for several years by various organizations. Asbestos remains the second cause of occupational diseases and the leading cause of occupational cancers.
According to health authorities, the inhalation of asbestos, banned in 1997, could cause between 68,000 and 100,000 deaths in France from 2009 to 2050 via respiratory cancer. the European Union since 2005, asbestos fibers are still present in millions of buildings and infrastructures, and responsible for the deaths of 70,000 people per year in Europe.