Australian officials announced on Friday that the government would launch a new mandatory registry for patients suffering from mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer. Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard made the announcement, stating that the data that the new registry would gather would give more complete and accurate information on the extent of the disease in the country. Previously, patients and doctors offered information to the registry on a voluntary basis.
The new Australian Mesothelioma Registry would be the basis of a database that would track the incidence rates for the deadly disease across the country, as well as help doctors and researchers establish patterns of when, where and how the disorder has occurred in patients over the last several years. Ms. Gillard said that the registry program would advance the cause of mesothelioma research in a country that has had a long and troubled history with the disease.
The registry would also track occurrences of asbestos exposure, the leading cause of mesothelioma and other lung disorders, to help health and worker safety officials anticipate future outbreaks. During the middle years of the last century, thousands of miners and construction workers were exposed to asbestos as part of their jobs. At one point, the country had the highest per capita rate of asbestos use of any industrialized nation.
The incidence rates for mesothelioma in Australia continue to climb, even after the government banned the use of the hazardous mineral in 1991. One of the reasons for this is the disease’s long latency period. Mesothelioma patients can be asymptomatic for several years, or even decades, after their initial exposure period. Also, doctors can easily misdiagnose the disease, since its symptoms can often resemble other lung disorders. Once a patient receives a diagnosis of mesothelioma, they often live less than eighteen months.
Ms. Gillard held the press conference at the Bernie Banton Centre at the Concord Hospital in Sydney. The Banton Centre is one of the country’s leading mesothelioma research facilities. The Centre’s namesake was an Australian activist who campaigned for patients dealing with mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung diseases. Mr. Banton died of mesothelioma in November 2007 and the research facility was opened in January 2009.
Ms. Gillard mentioned that the purpose of the registry was to document occurrences of the disease as they appear so that the government and the country’s health care industry can deal with “any remaining risks” from past cases of asbestos exposure. She said that the registry would be a useful tool to combat the disease, as the data will record “who has (mesothelioma), and what exposure … caused the disease”.
According to Ms. Gillard, the registry will provide data to “agencies around the country that deal with cancer” so that the respective offices can coordinate strategies and tactics for both finding patterns for asbestos exposure as well as insuring that medical aid and other resources reach the most suitable areas. She also said that the previous voluntary registry efforts severely underreported the incidence of the disease.
