The James Hardie company is compensating Asbestos victims to the tune of billions of dollars, but very little is being done to prevent new cases from Asbestos products already in the community.
There are strict laws in place to regulate the removal of Asbestos when an existing home is demolished, but there is no education programme to teach people the danger of working on the Asbestos that is present in all homes more than a quarter century old.
In particular, there are hundreds of thousands of homes, garages and sheds with unpainted Asbestos wall cladding and Asbestos roof sheeting.
Over the years the surface of these sheets has weathered and the Asbestos fibres are now exposed to the wind. Fibres break off under the deteriorating effect of sun and wind - and blow through the air to come in contact with the lungs of those nearby.
Mesothelioma is a slow developing - but inevitably fatal disease. It can take twenty to thirty years to make it's presence felt and our lack of action to prevent future cases means that Asbestos deaths will remain throughout this century - and probably extend into the next.
What is needed is an aggressive media campaign to make people realise just how deadly this product is. It is unsafe to drill or cut Asbestos sheeting without first wetting it down - and always to wear a breathing mask.
Asbestos sheeting on exterior walls and Asbestos sheeting roofs are deadly just by nature of their existence unprotected by a coat of paint or other binder to stop the surface weathering and releasing fibres.
If you can't afford to have it removed and replaced by a safe material, at least cover it with a coat of paint - and make sure that coat of paint remains intact as the years go by.
The alternative is to join the list of Asbestos sufferers who will eventually face a painful death !
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