Building a roadmap to ban the use of white asbestos in Vietnam

In Vietnam, white asbestos is mainly used in the production of proximang roofing sheets.

On November 27, in Hanoi, the Non-Governmental Organization Information Center (NGO-IC) organized a workshop "Joining hands to build a roadmap to ban the use of white asbestos in Vietnam" and launched the Network to ban the use of asbestos in Vietnam.

Asbestos is the general name for silicate mineral fibers. To date, there have been over 3,000 different types of products manufactured from asbestos. In Vietnam, white asbestos is mainly used in the production of proximang roofing sheets. Each year, 41 production facilities are capable of supplying the market with over 100 million m3, meeting at least 60% of the roofing sheet demand of the people (mainly people living in rural and mountainous areas due to reasonable prices and high durability); creating jobs for over 5,000 workers...

According to the report of the Department of Health Environment Management, Ministry of Health: Vietnam is one of the 10 countries that use the largest amount of asbestos in the world. White asbestos is mainly used in the production of fiber cement roofing sheets and is confirmed to be harmful to health. Asbestos enters the body and causes harm mainly through the respiratory tract when workers and users inhale respiratory dust containing asbestos dust dispersed in the environment.

The harmful effects of asbestos on the health of workers and the community are known to cause asbestosis, lung cancer, malignant mesothelioma (pleura, peritoneum, pericardium), pleural effusion and thickening, esophageal and ovarian cancer. People exposed to asbestos often develop the disease after a very long exposure of 20 to 30 years, so it is often not until the worker retires that they get sick. Asbestos is the most important occupational carcinogen.

Dr. Tran Tuan, representative of the Asbestos Ban Network in Vietnam, said: According to the results of the study on the current situation of people using asbestos-containing products and the ability to create a community that says no to asbestos in two communes in Yen Bai and Thanh Hoa, 85% of households use asbestos roofing sheets (for roofing, outbuildings, fences, etc.); nearly 1/3 of people have heard about asbestos; less than 5% of people have heard about the health and environmental effects of asbestos and almost all people do not know that the world bans the use of asbestos.

After receiving information about the harmful effects of asbestos on health and the environment, 2/3 of households using roofing sheets agreed to replace them with other materials, and nearly 75% of households accepted loans to convert.

Dr. Tran Tuan said: “Although the Government's roadmap is until 2020, I think if the correct and complete information is provided to the people, the asbestos-free mold in Vietnam can definitely be achieved sooner. Practical research in 2 communes of Yen Bai and Thanh Hoa has proven that. When people are provided with correct information according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the information of the Ministry of Health, more than 90% of people say no to asbestos. Families using fibro-cement roofing sheets, when they know how harmful asbestos is to health, nearly 2/3 of the families will immediately change to this material.”

On this occasion, the Network for Advocacy to Ban Asbestos in Vietnam was launched, and the Network's operational direction for the 2015-2017 period was developed.

According to VOV