Our paper entitled “Global mesothelioma deaths reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) between 1994 and 2008” was recently accepted by the Bulletin of the WHO and published online (http://www.who.int/bulletin/online_first/11-086678.pdf)
The overall mortality rates of reported mesothelioma were less than 10 deaths per million indicating that the disease is still rare. However, age-specific mortality rates increased steeply with age, to exceed 100 per million (1 per 10,000 subjects) in elderly males. More importantly, mortality rates increased significantly over time when a log-linear trend in age-adjusted mortality rate was assumed. This means that mortality is rising exponentially. The calculated annual change of around 5% corresponds to a more than twofold increase during the 15-year period. We discussed that this should be a combined effect of improved disease recognition and a real increase in disease incidence.
Dr. Vanya Delgermaa, Research Associate, Department of Environmental Epidemiology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan and GBAN Charter Member
In support, ADAO issued a press release titled “ADAO Applauds University of Occupational and Environmental Health of Japan, for Their Accepted Paper in the Prestigious Bulletin of the WHO – Paper Reports Mesothelioma Deaths Increased Twofold in 15 Years”