The United Kingdom is facing an epidemic of mesothelioma cancers among workers exposed to asbestos, top doctors have warned. Writing in the 31 January edition of the British Medical Journal they say there are now over 1,800 mesothelioma deaths per year in Britain – more than one in 200 of all deaths in men and almost one in 1,000 in women – and the number is still rising, with the peak of the epidemic still to come.

T Treasure, D Waller, S Swift and J Peto. Editorial. Radical surgery for mesothelioma. The epidemic is still to peak and we need more research to manage it. British Medical Journal, volume 328, pages 237-238, 31 January 2004.