Asia needs to ban the use of asbestos and conduct studies on people who have become ill from exposure or asbestos-related diseases will never end, according to a specialist.
A law largely prohibiting use of asbestos took effect in Japan last month, but few other Asian economies have taken similar action, said Ken Takahashi, a professor in the environmental epidemiology department at the University of Occupational and Environmental Health in Kitakyushu.
"The number of people with asbestos-induced diseases will increase in Asia in the future," Takahashi told The Japan Times. "We need to try to get more countries to stop using asbestos."