Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures including 40 years of data up to 2022 shows that 305 men and 30 women died from the disease in Barrow. Association of Personal Injury Lawyers' (APIL) Daniel Easton, an industrial disease expert and executive committee member, said: "A total of 335 people in the area died from mesothelioma, a merciless deadly cancer which is caused by exposure to asbestos." Areas that have high asbestos-related mortality, such as Barrow, have links to industries like shipbuilding, which used asbestos-containing materials before it was banned.
The HSE data shows that Plymouth had the highest mortality rate with 648 male deaths and North Tyneside had the second highest with 579 male deaths. Women who die from the disease have often contracted it due to secondary exposure, such as living near factories using asbestos, or from washing their husband's asbestos-covered overalls, and breathing in asbestos fibres. Mr Easton said: "The figures, however, do not tell the whole story.
"There is another strikingly similar disease - asbestos-related lung cancer - which is just as prevalent as mesothelioma, and also arises due to exposure to asbestos." “The two cancers are so alike that doctors can mistake them for each other. "But there is a very unfair disparity legally between how victims of these two diseases are treated when it comes to seeking justice for the death sentences inflicted on them by negligent defendants.
“It can be many years after contact with asbestos that symptoms begin to develop, and often people will have worked for several employers responsible for their exposure to the dust. "In that time, businesses may have folded, and insurance records are often lost or destroyed. “People who are diagnosed with mesothelioma need to find just one negligent defendant to claim full compensation.
"The responsible insurer can then continue the search for other employers in order to apportion blame between them. "People with a terrifying, terminal illness obviously do not have the luxury of time to find insurance records themselves." In contrast, victims of asbestos-related lung cancer must identify all firms that exposed them to asbestos to receive full compensation, potentially missing out on 'thousands of pounds' if unable to do so.
Mr Easton said: "I have no doubt there will be an impact on people in Barrow." APIL, in a joint campaign with the Asbestos Victims Support Group Forum (AVSGF), is advocating for a UK-wide law to grant equal compensation rights to sufferers of asbestos-related lung cancer as those with mesothelioma. Mr Easton said: "There is no justification for treating asbestos-related lung cancer victims any differently from sufferers of mesothelioma.
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