Next Saturday September 26, 2009 marks the 5th annual Mesothelioma Awareness Day. Radio stations across the country will be playing music by Warren Zevon, a singer/songwriter who died of the deadly asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma. The music will be followed by a 20 second segment on mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma Awareness Day was initiated by the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF). This non-profit organization is working to fund mesothelioma research in the hopes of finding a cure. One of their most important programs revolves around patient support for those diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases.
Occupational Health & Safety, in their article “Mesothelioma Day Spreads”, reports:
Caused by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma is particularly ruthless but does not usually get much coverage in the media, despite the fact that approximately 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with the disease every year, MARF says.
This lack of coverage leaves victims of the deadly disease uninformed. They do not know where to turn for support or treatment. MARF says these victims, “…too often, are told by their physicians that they should get their affairs in order and prepare to die.”
Mesothelioma Awareness Day began to battle this isolation and to inform those who have contracted mesothelioma as a result of their asbestos exposure that there are resources available. When it began in 2005, Mesothelioma Awareness Day had a meager start. Now, four years later, 20 states and 100 radio stations are participating.
Support the cause. Find out if your local radio stations will be participating this year. If they aren’t, encourage them to do so in the future. Find out more at http://www.curemeso.org/.
I didn’t even know that there was a mesothelioma awareness day, I think it’s profile should be increased.
It’s ridiculous that in this day and age over a hundred years since this terrible illness / disease was diagnosed that we’ve still got thousands of buildings, structures and ships made from products containing asbestos.
I wish you well.
It is very sad that asbestos is still used by number of industries, considering that it is one of the major causes of mesothelioma and other kinds of lung cancer. It also makes me sad that US federal legislation has been enacted to compensate victims of asbestos-related diseases or to protect people from further asbestos exposure, even thou a bill called FAIR Act has been introduced in Congress multiple times. This bill would create a national trust fund to provide compensation to victims suffering from diseases related to asbestos intake. This fund would be administered outside of the courts through a claims process in which all individuals with certain medical symptoms and evidence of asbestos-related diseases would be compensated. Funding for the trust would come from insurance companies and companies that mined, manufactured, and sold asbestos products. But… As we see, nothing happened. Sad.