This Canadian criticism of the role of capitalism in creating environments conducive to cancer and then burying the costs along with the victims, concludes a different  approach is needed if cancer is to be prevented. “We can win the war against cancer. The best available research is necessary, but not sufficient, for our victory. Cancer research is designed and undertaken, and the results published and acted upon, in a deeply political context. The social, political and economic changes necessary to win the war against cancer will require more than research alone. It will also require collective action, the uniting of movements that have operated for the most part independently. The combined wisdom and skills of activists in the environmental, occupational health, women’s health and nutrition movements will be needed to successfully challenge the status quo and to insist that science, the state and corporations operate in the public interest. That is what is needed to stem the cancer tide that is sweeping across Canada and beyond.”

Lissa Donner and Robert Chernomas. The Cancer Epidemic as a Social Event, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, March 2004. ISBN: 0-88627-357-9.

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.

Estimates that 1 per cent of cancer among women is attributable to occupation are based on research conducted mainly in the 1970s among men in developed countries. These studies do not reflect the dramatic changes in the participation of women in the workplace or the patterns of employment of women in developing countries. The proportion of women in the paid workforce, the amounts and types of unpaid labour, the distribution of women by economy sector, the scale of the workplaces, the allowable exposure levels in the workplace, and implementation of controls have changed over time and vary internationally. Occupational cancer researchers need to expand their focus on women, increase activities in developing countries, include newly created industries, use sophisticated exposure assessment methods, and, where appropriate, incorporate molecular epidemiologic techniques to discover new occupational carcinogens and to identify where better control measures are needed. The Doll/Peto study almost entirely discounted occupational cancer risks to women.

Zahm SH and Blair A. Occupational cancer among women: Where have we been and where are we going? American Journal of Industrial Medicine, volume 44, pages 565-575, 2003.

A chemical industry covert plan to undermine safety campaigns, including the creation of phony front groups and spying on activists, has been unearthed in a memo obtained by Environmental Working Group (EWG). The memo recommends that the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the lobbying association for US chemical companies, hire a crisis communications firm that promotes itself as the attack dog of the public relations industry to fight back against California’s adoption of laws and regulations that embrace the ‘precautionary principle’ (PP).

Risks 134,.

An asbestos industry dirty tricks campaign to give the deadly fibre a healthy gloss has been uncovered. A paper in the November 2003 edition of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine (AJIM) concludes: ‘The Canadian asbestos mining industry has a long history of manipulating scientific data to generate results that support claims that their product is ‘innocuous’.’ The US research team adds that the industry does this by retaining its own, industry sympathetic researchers.

D Egilman, C Fehnel, SR Bohme. Exposing the “myth” of ABC, “anything but chrysotile”: a critique of the Canadian asbestos mining industry and McGill University chrysotile studies, American Journal of Industrial Medicine, volume 44, number 5, pages 540-557, November 2003.

Laurie Kazan-Allen, The asbestos war, IJOEH, vol.9, no.3, pages 173-193, 2003

The HSE is warning workers of the need to observe stringent safety procedures when handling highly dangerous cancer drugs. A free information sheet aimed at the health and veterinary workers who handle the ‘cytotoxic drugs’ – also known as antineoplastic, anticancer or chemotherapy drugs – says they should be aware of serious long term risks if they are not handled in a safe manner.

Safe handling of cytotoxic drugs, MISC615, HSE, 2003.

Attorneys in a major Silicon Valley cancer cluster lawsuit against IBM have uncovered a ‘corporate mortality file” in which IBM tracked the deaths of more than 30,000 workers – and the lawyers claim the company knew its electronics workers were dying of cancer more often than normal. The IBM death records were reviewed by a medical expert hired by former IBM workers ahead of a September 2004 court case. The analysis by Boston University epidemiologist Richard Clapp concludes: ‘By 1975, IBM must have known their manufacturing employees had significantly increased death rates due to cancer and must have known that through the next two decades.’ He says data suggest that IBM workers were much more likely to die from cancers of the breast, blood and lymph than the general population.

San Francisco Chronicle, 24 September 2003. Risks 125.

The government’s top public health adviser has said introducing smoking bans in public places including bars is ‘the only way’ to successfully tackle the health risks from second-hand smoke. The State of Public Health, the annual report of government Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson, recommends ‘very serious consideration should be given to introducing a ban on smoking in public places soon.’ It adds: ‘All employers should plan to introduce smoke-free workplaces.’ It would be four more years before a ban in England was introduced.

CMO annual report, On the State of Public Health, 2003. Risks 113.

There is ‘appreciable’ evidence of a link between breast cancer and shiftwork, a report published by the HSE has found. Report author Professor Anthony Swerdlow, concludes: ‘Overall, the evidence for an association is appreciable, but not definitive’ and adds ‘further epidemiological research is needed to clarify the relationship.’ HSE commissioned this research following the publication of two articles in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in the United States, which linked shift work and breast cancer. In 2014 HSE was still facing criticism for inaction on the issue.

HSE news release, 15 July 2003. Shift work and breast cancer: a critical review of the epidemiological evidence, Research Report 132, 2003. ISBN 0 7176 2708 X.

Smoking bans in pubs and cafes would protect the health of UK hospitality workers and result in increased profits for landlords and restaurant owners, according to a story in the latest edition of the TUC-backed magazine, Hazards. In the light of the findings, TUC and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) say the government should now act on the independent research on the effects of any smoking bans.

Smoke screen, Hazards magazine, No.82, May 2003.