Over 47,000 people in the European Union are dying of asbestos related conditions each year with the UK topping the fatalities list, a new report has concluded.

Eliminating occupational cancer in Europe, published on 29 September 2015  by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), puts deaths caused by exposure to asbestos at three times previous estimates. It indicates the real toll is higher still, as certain asbestos related cancers are excluded from the calculation, as are those caused by environmental and domestic exposures.

The report has led to calls from asbestos victims’ advocacy groups for a renewed effort to stem the future toll. Laurie Kazan-Allen, coordinator of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, said: “Time and again, civil society groups have pressed the European Commission and European Union to take coordinated and decisive action on the asbestos hazard. The political will to engage with this crisis has been sorely lacking.”

She added: “In the light of the new data, the authorities should make good on their promise to constitute a European Asbestos Taskforce as a matter of utmost urgency.”

Earlier this year, the UK TUC called for the UK government to introduce an asbestos eradication law, a call that has been supported by unions and others. Australian asbestos eradication legislation took effect in June 2013.